I  •• •        c  c  « 


%^i£n/^,^aMun/ 


Martin  B.  Madden 


Public  Servant 


A   SKETCH 


Edgar  Weston  Brent 


CHICAGO 

1901 


V-         r  & 


1     ll 


Copyright,  1901 

BY 

EDGAR  WESTON  BRENT 


PREFACE. 


DURING  the  height  of  the  excursion  season,  eighteen 
months  ago,  there  were  assembled,  one  evening,  in 
the  lounging  room  of  San  Francisco's  principal  hotel,  a 
score  of  travelers,  each  from  a  different  distant  part  of  the 
world.  They  were  all  engaged  in  the  same  conversation. 
This  had  centered  on  the  topic  of  the  Pacific  coast's  great 
opportunities  in  Oriental  trade.  The  traveler  whose 
authority  seemed  most  acceptable  to  all  the  others,  in 
reply  to  a  question,  said:  "President  Lincoln  selected 
the  site  on  this  coast  where  the  greatest  city  should  be 
built.  He  caused  it  to  be  surveyed  and  laid  out.  The 
place  is  opposite  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  on  the 
southern  side  of  the  great  strait  leading  from  the  ocean 
to  Puget  sound.  It  is  called  Port  Angeles.  It  has  every 
advantage  needed  for  the  making  of  a  metropolis.  The 
harbor  is  the  nearest  in  the  United  States  to  Asia,  is 
immense  in  capacity  and  the  most  accessible  on  this  coast 
to  transcontinental  railways.  It  is  extraordinary  that  a 
man  from  Illinois  should  have  been  able  to  foresee  the 
value  of  that  location.  No  less  marvelous  is  it  that  the 
same  state  possesses  to-day  the  best  city-building  talent 
anywhere  assembled  in  the  world.  The  greatest  muni- 
cipal accomplishment  of  modern  times  is  the  construction 
of  the  city  of  Chicago  within  about  one  generation.  The 
next  was  by  the  same  men  who  did  that  and  was  the 

5 

M205200 


6  PREFACE 

creation  of  the  White  City  at  the  Columbian  Fair.  New 
York  grew.  Chicago  was  builded.  I  could  name  twenty 
men  now  doing  business  in  that  city  who  could,  if  they 
would  undertake  to  do  it,  make  Angeles  the  greatest  port 
in  the  world  and  one  of  the  greatest  cities.  They  would 
do  the  work  in  a  few  years,  too.  These  Chicagoans  are 
constructors,  city  builders,  by  nature.  There  are  no 
other  men  in  their  class." 

Asked  for  their  names,  the  traveler  gave  them,  accom- 
panying each  with  a  brief  oral  sketch,  and  then  contin- 
ued: "The  city  made  by  these  builders  has  already  the 
best  press  in  America,  the  greatest  book-buying  com- 
munity, the  most  advanced  school  system,  and  the  most 
democratic  population.  Its  business  men  are  at  the  same 
time  the  most  enterprising  and  the  most  conservative ; 
its  labor  the  most  intelligent  and  the  most  reasonable; 
its  bankers  the  most  liberal  and  the  most  careful.  If  the 
biographies  of  the  men  who  have  made  Chicago  should 
be  properly  written,  the  literature  would  do  more  than 
all  other  essays  to  allay  the  growing  discontent  of  the 
poor.  These  lives  would  perfectly  exhibit  the  fact  that 
in  a  country  like  this  poverty  is  often  the  result  of  the 
lack  of  managerial  talent  and  seldom  caused  by  the  suc- 
cess of  the  rich. 

"They  would  clearly  display  this  other  truth — that  the 
prosperous  American,  as  a  rule,  in  his  business  creates 
new  wealth  and  adds  it  to  the  stock  already  in  existence, 
taking  from  it  only  a  fair  share  for  his  labor  of  produc- 
tion, letting  the  rest  go  into  general  distribution.  It 
would  be  valuable  beyond  calculation  to  have  the  unpros- 
perous  convinced  that  the  prosperous  have  not  thrived  at 
the  expense  of  the  poor;  that  wealth  is  generally  obtained 


PREFACE  7 

by  creative  hard  work  of  a  kind  few  can  do,  and  that  the 
doing  of  this  work,  instead  of  resulting  in  appropriation, 
really  increases  distribution.  Write  wTell  the  story  of 
Chicago's  money-makers  and  you  will  help  the  poor." 

When  one  of  the  twelve  was  asked  for  the  facts  in  his 
history,  he  replied:  "My  history?  There  it  is,  in  that 
row  of  records.  They  contain  everything  recorded  about 
me.  Take  them.  You  will  find  the  whole  truth,  but 
much  more  condemnation  than  commendation." 
Chicago,  July,  igoi. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

I.     An  Illinois  Pioneer's  Boy — The  Patriotic  Cousins — 
Going   to  School — The  American  Temptation  to 

Work 11 

II.    The  Water  Carrier  of  Lemont — At  Night  School — 

Studies  Stone  and  Law — Chooses  Stone 17 

III.  Climbing  the  Ladder — Arrival   at  the  Top — Profi- 

ciency and  Integrity  the  Means 27 

IV.  Labor    Saving    Inventions — Madden's    Method    of 

Introducing  Them — Labor's  Friend 35 

,  V.     Contractor    Careless — The    Mistake  of    Tolerating 

Dishonesty — Accepting   Punishment 41 

VI.     The  Justice  of  Friendship — The  Demands  of  Law — 

Friendship  Saves 52 

VII.     Enters  Public  Life — The  Novice  Among  Aldermen 

— A  Lucky  Mistake 59 

VIII.     Public  Service  Begins— The  Chicago  Problem — The 

Solution  Undertaken 64 

IX.     The  Cry  of  "Boodle"— The  Cause  of  It— Who  Use 

It.... 75 

X.     Street    Railway    Franchises — The   Best  Solution — 

Some  Examples 83 

XI.     A  Great  Financier — The  Way  Chicago  was  Financed 

—The  Way  it  is  Now 93 

XII.     Entertaining    World's    Fair   Guests — A   Battle  for 

Morality — A  Great  Speech 105 

XIII.  Refuses  Mayoralty  Three  Times — Nominates  Rival 

— Sacrifice  for  Pure  Ballot 115 

XIV.  Meets    Unparalleled    Abuse    for    Public    Service — 

Eloquent  Parliamentary  Speech 129 

XV.     Starts  Civil  Service   Reform  Movement — Furnishes 

it  Arguments — Many  New  Ideas 146 

9 


10 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

XVI.  Passes  Civil  Service  Reform  Bill — Ignores  Ingrati- 
tude— Rescues  Law  from  Destruction 168 

XVII.     Assures    Chicago's    Supremacy    in   Manufacture — 

Saves  Lake  Front — Creates  Park  There 175 

XVIII.     Secures   Government  Help  for  Chicago  Trade — A 

Convincing  Argument 186 

XIX.     First   Republican   Manager  to  Declare  for  Gold — 

Undertakes  to  Get  Word  in  Platform 192 

XX.     Illinois   Forces  "Gold''  into   St.  Louis   Platform — 

The  Argument  that  Won 201 

XXI.  Cook  County  Republicans  Misrepresented — Mad- 
den's  Sacrifice  In  Their  Behalf — Marvelous  Per- 
sonal Victory 210 

XXII.     Uses  Blaine's  Reciprocity  Argument — Makes  Novel 

Application — Effect  on  Silver  Men 220 

XXIII.  Bryan's  Nomination  a  Surprise — Forces  Change  in 

Republican  Plan— The  Effect 225 

XXIV.  On  the  Stump — Many  New  Arguments — Their  His- 

torical Value 2.'U 

XXV.  Urged  to  Accept  Senatorship  from  Illinois — Rea- 
sons Therefor — Necessary  Votes  Secured 243 

XXVI.    Goes  to  Philadelphia  Convention — Represents  Illi- 
nois on  Platform  Committee 249 

XXVII.    Writing  the  Republican  Platform  for  1900— Inserts 
the    Word     Isthmian — Secures    Fair     Play    for 

France 255 

XXVIII.     Saves  the   Republican   Party    from    Committing   a 

Blunder— A  Witty  Speech 265 

XXIX.     Plans  the  Republican  Campaign  for  1900— New  Sil- 
ver and  Expansion  Argument 272 

XXX.  Makes  the  Best  Public  Statement  on  Trusts — Pro- 
poses the  Best  Solution 282 

XXXI.     Proposes   an   Effective   Method   of    Accomplishing 

Annexation  of  Canada 294 

XXXII.     Opposes  Free  Chinese  Immigration — Some  New  and 

Convincing  Arguments 299 

XXXIII.     Study  of  a  Perfect  Public  Servant— Essential  Qual- 
ities He  Must  Possess 308 


CHAPTER  I. 


AN  ILLINOIS  PIONEER  S  BOY— THE    PATRIOTIC  COUSINS— GOING   TO 
SCHOOL — THE    AMERICAN   TEMPTATION  TO  WORK. 


ill  ARTIN  BARNABY  MADDEN  was  born  in  Dar- 
/  T 1  lington,  England,  on  the  20th  day  of  March,  A.  D., 
1855.  His  father,  John  Madden,  was  a  plain  man,  of  the 
agricultural  class.  His  mother  was  Eliza  O'Neil,  of  the 
ancient  ruling  family.  Her  father  was  a  classical  scholar 
of  renown.  He  had  been  professor  of  Latin  and  Greek 
at  a  Dublin  university,  and  afterwards  in  one  of  the 
schools  in  Paris,  France.  Mrs.  O'Neil  Madden  was  a 
woman  of  uncommon  mental  gifts  and  strength  of  char- 
acter. She  was  domestic  in  taste  and  disposition  and 
fond  of  learning. 

Some  time  before  the  birth  of  Martin,  his  uncle,  Peter 
Warden,  the  husband  of  Mrs.  Madden's  sister,  and  a  man 
of  considerable  importance,  had  moved  into  the  northern 
part  of  Illinois,  then  the  most  attractive  part  of  the 
United  States  for  immigrants.  Mr.  Warden  was  a  native 
of  Pennsylvania  and  of  Dutch-Huguenot  ancestry.  He 
was  a  well-educated  man  and  had  for  a  time  taught 
school  before  moving  west.  He  at  first  settled  in  the 
territory  now  Chicago,  afterwards  locating  in  Lemont,  at 
present  a  metropolitan  suburb.  The  Wardens  prospered 
from  the  first. 

In  Mrs.  Warden's  correspondence  with  her  sister  she 

11 


12  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

convinced  her  and  her  husband  that  the  West,  as  Illinois 
was  then  known,  was  the  best  place  in  the  world  for  the 
rearing  of  children  possessing  qualities  for  the  creation 
of  careers.  • 

The  Maddens  landed  in  Boston  in  i860,  when  Martin 
was  four  years  old,  and  at  once  went  to  Lemont,  where 
they  took  up  a  farm.  Help  was  scarce  in  the  West,  then, 
-  and  few  farmers  could  successfully  manage  agricultural 
land  there  unless  they  had  boys  of  their  own  able  to  work. 
His  children  being  small,  John  Madden  did  not  become 
affluent  at  farming.  As  both  boys  and  girls  of  working 
age  were  more  valuable  as  farm  help  than  they  could  be 
at  any  other  occupation  among  the  Illinois  pioneers,  it 
was  almost  impossible  to  secure  attendance  at  any  but  the 
primary  schools.  The  public  educational  system  was 
beginning  to  extend  over  the  West,  and  when  the  little 
red  school-house  made  its  advent  in  'Lemont  its  good 
offices,  for  a  long  time,  were  confined  to  the  younger  chil- 
dren. 

The  Wardens,  with  more  and  larger  boys,  fared  bet- 
ter than  did  the  Maddens.  Peter  Warden  became  a 
citizen  of  influence  and  means,  and  widely  known.  He 
was  soon  a  leader.  He  was  one  of  the  men  who  estab- 
lished the  first  Baptist  church  organized  in  Chicago.  Of 
this  he  was  elected  the  first  clerk,  the  most  important 
and  influential  position  a  man  could  have  in  the  commu- 
nity, next  to  that  occupied  by  the  preacher.  One  of  his 
sons  was  the  fourth  white  male  child  born  in  the  city. 

Mrs.  Madden  and  Mrs.  Warden,  as  well  as  their  hus- 
bands, were  of  patriotic  texture,  and  became  intensely 
interested  in  the  country.  The  Wardens  had  become 
absorbed  in  the  slavery  agitation,  as  it  had  been  carried 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  13 

on  by  Stephen  A.  Douglas  and  Abraham  Lincoln,  and 
the  Maddens  had  not  long  been  residents  of  Illinois  when 
they  were  as  thoroughly  American  as  their  elder  rela- 
tives who  had  induced  them  to  become  citizens.  When 
the  War  of  the  Rebellion  began,  in  1861,  Mrs.  Warden  had 
seven  sons  grown  up.  She  sent  six  of  them  as  soldiers 
on  the  Union  side.  To  spare  one  son  was  a  serious  sac- 
rifice, in  a  country  where  every  man  was  so  valuable ;  to 
send  six  out  of  seven  was  heroic.  These  people  loved 
their  country.  They  would  have  given  to  Lincoln's 
work  everything  they  had,  without  the  least  hesitation. 
These  six  sons  served  all  through  the  war.  John  War- 
den, one  of  them,  was  one  of  the  200  soldiers  who  volun- 
teered to  lead  the  called-for  charge  over  the  ramparts  of 
Vicksburg,  during  the  Federal  siege  of  that  city.  Every 
man  of  these  200  was  wounded  in  that  terrible  task,  and 
but  nine  returned  from  it  alive.  John  was  one  of  the 
nine.  He  was  shot  through  both  knees.  So  extraor- 
dinary was  the  heroism  put  forth  by  these  intrepid  men, 
that  Congress  declared  a  national  vote  of  thanks  to  them 
and  ordered  a  special  medal  to  be  struck,  and  presented 
for  each.  When  John  Warden  finally,  in  1893,  received 
the  Government's  notice  that  his  medal  was  awaiting  him, 
the  information  was  sent  by  President  Cleveland.  Warden 
refused  to  take  the  decoration  from  his  hands  because, 
as  a  soldier,  he  thought  the  President's  conduct  in  the 
treatment  of  deserving  pensioners  was  unfair  and  unjust. 
It  was  with  difficulty  that  the  soldier's  cousin,  then  Alder- 
man, prevailed  upon  him  to  accept  the  nation's  gift  and 
treasure  it  for  what  it  meant. 

At  six  years  of  age,   Martin  was  sent  to  the  public 
school.     He  attended  it  until  he  was  ten.     At  that  time 


14  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

the  great  value  of  the  stone,  now  everywhere  celebrated 
as  the  Athens  limestone,  underlying  all  the  Lemont 
region,  was  beginning  to  attract  general  attention  for 
building,  paving  and  curbing  purposes.  Capital  was 
hurried  into  the  country  for  quarry  development,  the 
new  town  of  Chicago's  growth  furnishing  the  demand 
and  market.  Labor  was  scarce  and  at  a  premium. 
Inducements  were  held  out  to  boys  to  go  to  work  in  the 
quarries  that  were  being  opened  up  all  over  the  neigh- 
borhood. It  made  Martin  restive  to  see  other  lads  easily 
acquiring  by  light  work  the  cash  that  made  them  inde- 
pendent and  important  or  useful  in  the  region  where 
trade  had  been  nearly  all  barter,  and  where  money  had 
for  a  long  time  been  so  scarce  that  only  big  men  could 
occasionally  get  any.  The  world  was  changing  in  his 
young  eyes,  and  the  desire  to  get  his  hand  in  became 
irresistible.  He  begged  his  parents  to  permit  him  to 
take  advantage  of  the  many  opportunities  lying  all  about. 
He  was  tall,  healthy,  and  strong.  He  was,  however, 
such  a  bright  and  promising  scholar  that  both  his  parents 
had  mapped  out  for  him  a  career  of  learning,  and  he  met 
with  a  stout  resistance.  The  management  of  the  chil- 
dren was  in  the  mother's  province,  and  the  boy  pointed 
out  to  her  that  the  recently  opened  night  school  was 
better  equipped  with  teachers  than  the  one  conducted 
during  the  day;  that  he  could'  learn  more  at  it;  that  what 
he  would  have  to  do  if  he  went  to  work  would  be  like 
playing  for  pay  to  a  boy  of  his  strength  and  activity,  and 
that  for  this  recreation  he  could  bring  into  the  family 
exchequer  every  week  almost  as  much  good  hard  money 
as  his  father  would  get  by  the  barter  of  farming;  "and 
then,  mother,  don't  you  see,  I'll  be  earning  more  and 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  15 

father  needn't  work  so  much."  The  lad  attacked  his 
mother  on  her  vulnerable  side.  She  yielded,  thinking  a 
boy  of  his  age  would  soon  change  his  mind,  and  the 
experiment  would  do  him  no  harm.  In  fact,  it  might 
cure  him  of  the  craze  that  was  afflicting  all  his  comrades, 
and  steady  him  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge.  The  boy 
knew,  what  his  mother  did  not  suspect  he  perceived,  that 
his  help  was  really  needed  and  would  greatly  aid  his 
father  in  the  support  of  the  family.  He  was  permitted 
to  seek  work,  but  was  to  submit  whatever  proposition  he 
got,  before  accepting  it,  to  his  mother  for  her  approval. 
She  knew  he  was  perfectly  truthful  and  reliable.  So 
when  he  soon  afterward  reported  that  the  Superintendent 
of  the  Lemont  Stone  Company  had  offered  him  the  job 
of  carrying  water  to  the  men  engaged  in  its  quarry 
work,  the  mother  could  not  at  first  comprehend  the  situ- 
ation. There  was  no  boy  so  young  as  her  son  hired  in 
any  of  the  stone  works;  and  at  the  Lemont  there  were 
many  scores  of  men  employed.  How  could  a  lad  like 
Martin  supply  them  with  water? 

"It  was  like  this,"  said  the  Superintendent.  "He 
made  us  a  proposition." 

"  A  proposition  !  Absurd.  How  could  a  boy  like  that 
make  you  a  business  proposition?  Why,  he  is  hardly  ten 
years  old. ' ' 

"All  the  same,  he  did.  He's  more  than  ten  up  here" 
(tapping  his  forehead).  "Says  he,  'Can  you  give  me 
something  to  do  in  the  quarry?'  'And  what  can  a  little 
boy  like  you  do  in  a  stone  quarry?'  says  I.  And  says  he, 
'Anything. *  And  then  says  he,  'What  do  you  pay  the 
men?'  Tickled  at  that,  I  says,  'Two  dollars  a  day 
each.'     And  he  says,  'They  have  to  go  a  long  way  to 


16  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

drink.  And  they  all  go.  I've  patched  them.  I  could 
carry  the  water  to  them  for  less  Man  two  dollars  a  day.' 
Labor  is  scarce  and  we've  gov  to  pay  high  for  it.  It 
didn't  take  me  long  to  figure  out  that  what  was  in  the 
lad's  head  was  right.  The  time  lostby  the  men  going 
to  and  from  the  pumps  makes  up  more  in  wages  than 
the  boy  would  save  it  for.  So  we've  made  a  new  job  for 
the  boy.  We're  going  to  make  him  water-carrier. 
There's  money  in  it  for  both  of  us. " 

The  three  dollars  a  week  offered  Martin  was  less  than 
his  work  would  save  the  company  in  a  day,  and  when  his 
mother  twitted  him  with  not  getting  a  larger  part  of  the 
saving  for  accomplishing  all  of  it,  he  said  he  didn't  think 
the  company  would  hire  him  unless  they  made  by  it, 
and,  besides,  any  other  boy  could  do  the  same  thing. 
'Yes,"  laughed  his  mother;  "if  he  would  think  of  it." 
"But  the  company  would  think  of  it,"  replied 
Martin. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE    WATER    CARRIER    OF    LEMONT — AT    NIGHT    SCHOOL — STUDIES 
STONE  AND  LAW— CHOOSES   STONE. 


THE  maternal  consent  could  not  now  be  withheld, 
and  Martin  Barnaby  Madden  began  his  career. 
His  judgment  about  the  night  school  and  the  nature 
of  the  work  he  was  employed  to  do  were  both  correct. 
The  night  school  had  better  teachers  than  those  working 
among  the  day  attendants,  because  the  pupils  were  older 
and  more  capable.  Among  these  young  Madden  made 
better  progress  in  his  studies  than  he  possibly  could  have 
achieved  in  the  more  juvenile  classes.  The  water-carry- 
ing for  a  long  time  was  as  easy  as  playing  ball.  The 
quarries  grew,  however,  and  then  the  business  got  to  be 
a  little  more  serious.  Martin  regarded  his  occupation 
always  as  important.  The  more  .he  became  acquainted 
with  the  quarrymen  and  the  nature  of  the  hard  labor  they 
performed  for  their  wages,  the  more  thought  and  care 
he  bestowed  upon  his  task.  He  never  had  to  be  called; 
he  was  always  at  his  post.  He  never  thought  of  saving 
himself  steps  by  dealing  out  tepid  drink  to  the  hard- 
working men.  He  busied  himself  keeping  cold,  fresh 
water  ready  at  all  times.  When  the  number  of  quarry- 
men  grew  to  the  point  of  taxation  upon  his  energy,  he 
established  convenient  stations  and  kept  the  receptacles 
at  all  of  them  full  of  newly-brought  fresh  cold  beverage. 
He  was  for  years  after  he  had  passed  on  from  this  work 
2  17 


18  MARTiN  ii.  MADDEN 

referred  to  as  the  best  water-carrier  ever  known  in 
Lemont. 

A  boy  who  did  his  work  in  that  way  was  bound  to 
attract  the  attention  not  only  of  the  men,  but  of  his 
employers  as  well.  In  addition  to  anticipating  and  being 
ever  ready  to  cater  to  the  thirst  of  the  former,  the  ves- 
sels he  used  were  not  permitted  to  be  unduly  exposed, 
but  were  kept  clean,  bright  and  under  shelter,  and  every 
evening  carefully  housed.  He  found  time  to  move  vari- 
ous tools,  within  his  ability  to  handle,  about  to  save  the 
tired  employes  running  after  them.  He  made  himself 
so  useful  in  this  respect,  and  often  grouped  implements 
so  advantageously  for  emergencies,  that  the  Superin- 
tendent one  day  created  another  new  office  for  him,  at 
increased  wages — that  of  tool  custodian. 

This  was  quite  a  rise  for  a  boy  of  his  age,  and  stimu- 
lated his  pride  and  love  for  order.  In  his  new  position 
he  began  to  display  executive  talent.  As  water-carrier 
he  had  become  familiar  with  the  different  localities  in  the 
quarries.  Now,  he  began  to  observe  the  differences  in 
the  trend  of  the  stratifications  and  to  note  the  variations 
in  the  quality  of  the  stone.  The  workmen  all  liked  him 
and  answered  his  queries  with  geological  information 
chat  never  fell  on  barren  ground.  In  time  it  was  found 
that  not  only  were  the  tools  well  kept  and  well  disposed, 
but  they  were  often  located  with  considerable  scientific 
insight  into  the  nature  of  the  anticipated  work.  It  was 
manifest  that  the  lad  was  getting  interested  in  the  work- 
ing of  stone.  His  providence  in  the  distribution  of  the 
implements,  his  foresight  in  the  conduct  of  his  task, 
became  proverbial  as  one  of  the  striking  economies  of  the 
quarry.       Every  man  engaged  by  the    company  grew 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  19 

interested  in  the  boy.  The  workmen  saw  that  the  higher 
he  rose  in  the  company's  employ,  the  better  their  welfare 
was  provided  for.  The  overseers  realized  that  the  more 
responsible  the  lad  was  made  the  better  the  condition  of 
the  property  and  the  more  satisfactory  the  results.  It 
came  about,  therefore,  that  although  young  Madden 
never  asked  a  favor  of  anybody,  but  attended  strictly  to 
what  he  had  to  do  on  his  own  volition  always,  every  one 
in  the  business  was  interested  in  pushing  him  up. 

He  became  a  sort  of  institution  in  the  quarry,  which 
was  now  fast  growing  into  a  great  Chicago  industry. 
Fondness  for  the  work  was  developing  in  him.  He  loved 
to  watch  the  skillful  extraction  of  the  stone  from  the 
layers  formed  by  nature ;  to  see  it  fashioned  afterwards 
for  the  builders,  and  then  follow  it  into  the  final  place  in 
structures..  He  studied  nature's  process  and  man's  real- 
izations from  it,  and  grew  to  regard  the  stone-handler's 
work  as  one  of  the  noblest  employments  of  men.  From 
the  dust,  or  the  gravel,  or  the  animal  deposits,  to  the 
finished  occupied  building  was,  to  his  young  mind,  a 
providential  arrangement  all  planned  ages  ago  and  now 
carried  out  as  originally  conceived.  He  was  witnessing 
the  final  process  of  the  evolution  and  having  a  small 
hand  in  it.  It  exhilarated  him,  made  him  love  the  work, 
and  was  fast  attracting  his  whole  life  into  it.  He  was 
interested  during  the  day;  when  he  went  home  explained 
it  all  to  his  listening  mother  and  father;  he  thought  of  it 
while  at  his  evening  school;  and  next  morning  was  in  a 
hurry  to  be  first  at  the  works,  solicitous  not  to  miss  any- 
thing that  might  transpire.  As  he  kept  at  the  head  of 
his  class  his  parents  as  yet  saw  no  occasion  to  fear  for  his 
education.     His  father  was  proud  of  him,  and  crowded 


20  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

all  the  information  he  could  pack  into  the  inquisitive  con- 
ferences the  lad  brought  on  at  all  the  family  meetings. 

At  fourteen  years  of  age,  Martin  was  appointed  time- 
keeper at  the  quarries.  That  was  a  phenomenal  appoint- 
ment for  one  so  young.  It  made  him  the  talk  of  the 
whole  district.  To  be  trusted  by  the  company  to  look 
after  its  interests  in  seeing  that  it  got  the  receipt  of  all 
the  time  it  paid  for  from  several  hundred  employes,  was 
a  distinction  no  boy  of  that  age  had  ever  before  attained 
anywhere,  so  far  as  known,  in  Illinois.  It  made  the  Mad- 
den lad  a  public  character.  Boys  who  still  fished  and 
hunted  birds  pointed  to  him  with  pride  as  an  acquaint- 
ance, and  youngsters  who  did  not  dare  to  claim  fellow- 
ship looked  upon  him  with  awe.  His  employers  were 
certain  he  would  not  permit  them  to  be  cheated  and  the 
men  knew  he  would  be  fair  to  them.  Both  sides  would 
take  his  decision  any  time. 

He  was  now  earning  more  money  in  cash  than  his 
father's  farming  realized,  and  the  question  of  educa- 
tion had  to  be  settled.  The  parents  admitted  that  Mar- 
tin's evening  studies  and  his  constant  questionings  had 
enabled  him  to  acquire  more  knowledge  of  real  value 
than  they,  or  anyone  within  their  acquaintance,  had  had 
at  fourteen  years  of  age.  Of  course,  the  son  could  not 
speak  or  write  either  Greek  or  Latin  as  his  grandfather 
could;  but  he  was  proficient  in  English  and  in  mathe- 
matics and  several  other  branches.  Then  most  of  the 
knowledge  concealed  in  the  Greek  and  Roman  languages 
Martin  had  drawn  out  of  the  scholars  in  the  locality 
without  having  had  to  learn  the  scripts,  and  the  lad  said : 
4  *  Father,  they  have  given  it  to  me  in  better  shape  than 
I  could  have  quarried  it  out  of  the  original  myself. " 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  21 

The  mother's  good,  hard,  practical  sense,  inherited 
from  sturdy  ancestors  and  cultivated  in  the  severe  task 
of  maternal  management,  cropped  out  in  the  youth.  He 
contended  that  his  work  was  not  wearying  and  that  he 
would  continue  to  attend  night  schools  of  higher  grades, 
and  depend  upon  his  parents  to  keep  him  right  in  his 
reading  and  to  help  him  prevent  waste  in  pursuing  his 
studies.  The  policy,  once  outlined,  was  carefully  adhered 
to.  The  time-keeper  added  book-keeping,  mechanical 
drawing,  the  higher  mathematics  and  history  to  his 
studies,  with  special  instructors.  He  rapidly  became 
proficient  and  soon  was  promoted  to  the  mechanical 
drafting  corps  of  the  company.  In  this  body  his  econom- 
ical devices  were  so  many  and  valuable  that  he  rose  to  the 
head  of  the  staff,  and  at  eighteen  years  he  was  the  official 
chief.  He  was  now  attending  the  evening  sessions  of 
the  principal  commercial  college  in  Chicago.  He  grad- 
uated at  the  head  of  his  class,  and  was  made  Chief  Gen- 
eral Accountant  and  then  Paymaster  for  the  company, 
which  now  was  employing  about  900  men. 

While  attending  the  Lemont  night  schools  Madden' s 
memory  attracted  general  attention  and  became  an  object 
of  wonder.  At  one  time  when  he  was  in  the  higher 
classes  he  was  able  upon  demand  to  give  the  boundaries 
of  every  country,  state  and  territory  in  the  world;  to 
name  the  capital  of  every  state  and  nation ;  and  to  locate 
every  known  navigable  stream,  its  source  and  mouth, 
state  its  length,  and  describe  it  direction.  He  could 
remember  all  things  equally  well  and  never  forgot  any- 
thing he  noticed.  He  never  ' ' memorized, "  and  seemed 
absolved  from  all  necessity  of  doing  it.  Whatever  reached 
his  mind  in  any  way  was  retained  there  and  ever  after 


22  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

was  instantly  available.  This  prodigious  faculty  of 
absorbing,  retaining  and  reproducing  explains  his  remark- 
able progress  in  acquiring  as  well  as  his  skill  in  using 
knowledge.  He  was  very  fond  of  debating  and  public 
speaking,  and  in  both  was  so  decidedly  the  superior  of 
any  other  youth  in  or  about  Lemont  as  to  be  without 
rivalry.  It  was  noticed  that  in  the  declaiming  feats,  then 
the  fashion  among  schoolboys  in  northern  Illinois,  other 
lads  were  always  more  or  less  constrained  in  their  efforts 
because  of  the  apparent  labor  of  their  memories,  while 
Madden's  speech  seemed  spontaneous  and  from  abun- 
dance. In  after  life,  when  he  was  old  enough  to  explain, 
mental  operations,  he  attributed  this  difference  to  the 
fact  that  they,  having  committed  to  memory  the  amount 
of  speech  they  were  to  deliver,  when  upon  their  feet 
were  visibly  engaged  in  the  effort  of  adhering  to  their 
limits;  while  he,  having  more  to  say  than  he  had  time  to 
utter,  was  really  engaged  in  the  work  of  extemporaneous 
selection.  This  difference  in  the  mental  work  gave  his 
orations  more  natural  action  and  appearance  than  could 
accompany  mere  feats  of  remembrance. 

During  this  period  it  was  decided  by  the  local  author- 
ities to  provide  increased  school  room  for  the  rapidly 
enlarging  classes.  Plans  for  a  new  building  were  under 
consideration  when  young  Madden  suggested  to  the 
Directors  that  an  addition  to  the  one  in  use  could  be 
devised  that  would  answer  requirements  for  several  years 
to  come.  The  officials  were  amazed  at  what  they  thought 
was  audacity  on  the  part  of  the  youth,  and  in  a  pleasant 
taunter  replied  that  they  would  like  to  see  a  plan  of  such 
an  addition.  The  boy  sat  down  at  once  and  in  their 
presence  drew  what  was  asked,  with  specifications  com- 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  23 

plete.  It  was  a  revelation  to  the  officials  and  answered 
all  purposes  so  completely  that  it  was  at  once  accepted. 
The  addition  was  constructed  in  strict  accordance  with 
the  boy's  draughting,  and  the  school  building  so  enlarged 
met  the  needs  of  that  locality  for  a  long  time.  The 
Directors,  after  accepting  the  plans,  laughingly  asked 
their  author  to  send  in  a  bill  for  "professional  services." 
He  put  his  figure  at  $50.  "Why,  it  didn't  take  you  more 
than  half  an  hour  to  make  your  drawings,"  said  one  of 
the  Board.  "But  it  took  me  many  months  to  learn 
how,"  was  the  response.  The  fee  was  cheerfully  paid 
and  the  incident  became  one  of  the  legends  of  Lemont. 
The  building  was  afterwards  called  "Madden's  School 
House,"  and  was  pointed  out  to  visitors  as  one  of  the 
features  of  the  district. 

At  twenty-one  years  of  age,  Madden's  proficiency  was 
so  great  that  he  was  placed  in  full  charge  of  the  stone 
work  on  the  new  county  building  in  the  city  of  Chicago, 
all  of  which  was  furnished  by  the  company  he  was  work- 
ing for.  The  building  is  one  of  the  most  elaborate, 
massive  and  highly  ornamental  stone  structures  in  the 
world,  everywhere  among  architects  regarded  as  a 
model.  Unfortunately,  it  has  never  been  completed 
according  to  the  original  design,  and  the  ground  upon 
which  it  is  piled  has  proven  uneven  in  supporting  power. 
Every  stone  in  the  building  was  quarried  under  the  per- 
sonal supervision  of  young  Madden.  He  drafted  the 
design  for  every  one  as  it  was  to  appear  in  the  building, 
marked  it  for  the  place  it  was  to  occupy,  personally 
supervised  its  cutting,  its  trial,  its  transportation,  and  its 
final  setting  in  place,  besides  keeping  time  on  the  pro- 
duction of  each  piece,   its  moving  and  its  placing.     He 


24  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN     * 

remained  with  this  work  until  it  was  completed  and 
labored  on  an  average  from  6  a.  m.  until  9  p.  m.  every 
day.   That  was  in  1876,  and  he  had  but  passed  his  youth. 

Between  his  eighteenth  and  his  twenty-second  years, 
among  his  other  studies  he  pursued  that  of  law.  He 
graduated  from  the  law  school  and  passed  his  examina- 
tion for  admission  to  the  bar  early  in  the  year  after 
attaining  his  majority,  being  one  of  the  twelve  that  got 
through  the  ordeal  that  year.  He  had  for  a  long  time 
been  ambitious  to  be  a  lawyer.  Now  that  he  had  the 
right  to  practice,  many  brilliant  offers  were  made  to  him. 
He  took  the  matter  under  contemplation.  He  now  had 
many  people  depending  upon  him.  His  salary  was  $200 
per  month.  If  he  remained  in  the  stone  business  he  was 
assured  of  $3,000  a  year  immediately,  with  a  prospect  of 
soon  getting  $6,000.  The  best  offer  he  could  depend 
upon  in  the  practice  of  law  would  not  at  once  yield  him 
a  certainty  of  more  than  $1,500  per  annum,  with  the 
future  problematical.  He  decided  to  remain  .in  the 
business  he  had  been  working  at  for  twelve  years  and 
retain  the  large  and  valuable  clientage  he  was  certain  of 
therein. 

The  company  for  which  he  was  now  working  was 
known  as  the  Enterprise  Stone  Company.  It  had  been 
evolved  from  several  smaller  concerns  engaged  in  quarry- 
ing the  Athens  stone  at  Joliet  and  Lemont  and  employed 
over  1,000  men.  The  Paymaster  was  soon  promoted  to 
the  office  of  Superintendent.  In  that  position  he  got  out 
of  the  quarries  all  his  employers  paid  for  and  placed  it  in 
the  market  with  such  expedition  that  there  was  the  least 
possible  loss  on  the  way.  He  remained  Superintendent 
until  1881. 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  25 

On  the  16th  of  May,  1878,  two  months  after  passing 
the  twenty-third  anniversary  of  his  birth,  Martin  B. 
Madden  took  the  most  important  step  of  a  good  man's 
life :  he  married.  The  union  was  one  of  perfect  natural 
selection,  the  result  of  a  long  acquaintance.  The  bride 
was  Miss  Josephine  Smart,  of  Downer's  Grove,  Du  Page 
county,  Illinois.  Her  grandparents  on  both  sides  had 
emigrated  from  England  to  New  York  when  her  father, 
Elijah  Smart,  was  six  years  of  age  and  her  mother,  Eliza 
Fell,  six  months.  When  Elijah  Smart  married  he  and 
his  young  wife  started  west.  They  journeyed  in  a 
wagon  all  the  way  from  Cattaraugus  county,  N.  Y., 
where  they  were  reared,  to  Illinois  and  located  at  Down- 
er's Grove.  Here  their  daughter  Josephine  was  born. 
At  an  early  age  she  exhibited  literary^and  musical  talent 
of  a  high  order,  and  her  parents  had  her  carefully  edu- 
cated. She  attended  Wheaton  College  and  then  pursued 
and  finished  her  studies  at  Northwestern  University.  At 
the  time  of  her  marriage  Miss  Smart,  because  of  her 
accomplishments  and  graces  of  person,  was  one  of  the 
greatest  social  favorites  in  northern  Illinois.  She  had 
no  superior  among  her  sex  in  the  entire  West  in  either 
musical  skill  or  developed  talent  in  literary  composition, 
prose  and  poetical.  She  might  easily  have  reached  any 
place  before  the  public  within  a  woman's  ambition. 
Love  of  home,  however,  predominated  in  her  disposition. 
After  marriage  she  devoted  her  all  talents  to  the  woman's 
side  of  family  and  domestic  life,  and  so  became  abso- 
lutely the  partner  of  her  husband.  Heaven  has  entrusted 
these  two  with  a  daughter,  now  in  her  fifteenth  year. 

A  short  time  after  Mr.  Madden 's  marriage  some 
neighbors  were  discussing  with  his  mother  the  departure 


26  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

of  her  son  from  home  and  the  probabilities  of  his  career. 
His  history  was  recounted  and  compared  with  that  of 
many  men  then  prominent  in  affairs,  and  the  conviction 
was  expressed  that  he  would  be  "heard  from."  It  was 
this  conversation  that  drew  from  Mrs.  Madden  the  remark- 
able statement  so  often  quoted: 

t4I  have  raised  a  son  who  will  not  lie,  nor  take  any- 
thing that  does  not  belong  to  him,  nor  own  anything  that 
he  has  not  paid  for  in  full.  He  will  not  say  anything 
against  his  neighbor,  even  if  that  neighbor  be  his  enemy. 
He  will  not  go  into  debt  for  himself.  He  will  live  on 
less  than  he  earns  and  ever  have  money  on  hand  to  help 
himself  and  his  friends  along.  He  will  all  his  days  do 
for  his  employers  more  than  he  may  be  paid  to  do.  He 
has  a  fine  mind,  a  good  tongue  and  a  clean  soul,  and  he 
will  keep  them  that  way  as  long  as  he  lives,  I  know.  He 
cannot  easily  be  deceived,  can  take  care  of  himself,  and 
will  never  deserve  any  shame.  He  will  rise  from  the 
time  he  left  home  and  will  not  fall  until  he  dies,  and  he 
will  always  stand  up  tall  and  straight  among  his  fellow 
men.  I  am  satisfied  altogether  with  him  and  proud  of 
what  I  have  done  in  rearing  him.  The  greatest  states- 
man can  do  no  more  for  the  country  than  I  have  done  in 
giving  Martin  to  it — God  bless  them  both. " 


CHAPTER  III. 


CLIMBING  THE    LADDER — ARRIVAL  AT  THE  TOP— PROFICIENCY  AND 
INTEGRITY  THE  MEANS. 


IN  1881  all  the  companies  quarrying  the  Athens  stone 
formed  a  central  organization  known  as  the  Chicago 
Building  Stone  Company.  Of  this  Mr.  Madden  was  made 
the  Financial  Manager.  This  association  did  the  market- 
ing and  collecting  for  all  the  companies  producing  the 
stone.  The  Manager  handled  the  sales  and  collections 
with  consummate  skill  and  great  profit  for  one  year. 
The  hard  indoor  work  he  did  not  like  and  he  resigned  at 
the  end  of  a  year,  for  the  purpose  of  going  back  to  out- 
door life. 

He  had  bought  an  interest  in  the  Joliet  Stone  Com- 
pany and  in  the  Crescent  Stone  Company  of  Joliet,  and 
was  made  Vice-President  and  General  Manager  of  both. 
He  reorganized  the  concerns,  making  the  Joliet  the 
handler  and  the  Crescent  the  producer.  In  the  first  year 
of  his  management  he  netted  the  stockholders  $60,000 
in  profits.  He  conducted  the  business  of  both  companies 
from  that  time  until  1891  each  year  paying  large  divi- 
dends. 

So  thorough  was  now  his  knowledge  of  the  quarry- 
ing, handling,  transportation  and  marketing  of  building, 
paving  and  curbing  stone,  and  so  comprehensive  his 
acquaintance  with  the  building  trade  in  all  parts  of  the 

27 


28  MARTIN   B.  MADDEN 

country,  that  he  was  everywhere  sought  for  his  mana- 
gerial ability  and  talent  for  making  money  in  the  stone 
and  construction  business. 

The  Quarry  Owners'  Association,  owning  stone  lands 
between  New  York  and  Denver,  elected  him  President 
for  two  successive  terms  of  two  years  each.  He  was  the 
youngest  man  who  had  ever  held  that  responsible  office, 
and  the  only  one  ever  elected  twice  to  it.  He  declined 
the  third  election  offered  to  him  because  he  could  no 
longer  spare  the  time  to  properly  attend  to  the  business 
of  the  office. 

He  was  for  two  years  Vice-President  of  the  Builders' 
and  Traders'  Exchange  of  Chicago,  and  was  on  its  direc- 
tory during  that  time  as  Chairman  of  the  Finance  Com- 
mittee. 

He  represented  the  builders  of  Illinois  as  delegate  to 
the  National  Convention  of  Builders  at  St.  Paul  in  1890; 
New  York  in  1891;  Cleveland  in  1892,  and  St.  Louis  in 
1893. 

In  1 89 1  the  Western  Stone  Company,  a  powerful  and 
rich  corporation,  composed  of  a  number  of  the  wealthiest 
business  men  in  Chicago,  which  had  absorbed  all  the 
companies  quarrying  and  handling  the  Athens  limestone, 
except  the  Joliet  and  Crescent,  offered  Mr.  Madden  the 
general  management  of  the  corporation  at  any  salary  he 
might  choose  to  ask.  He  refused  the  offer,  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  responsible  for  the  financial  manage- 
ment of  the  two  independent  companies,  and  that  his 
partners  were  not  practical  stone  men.  He  was  pressed 
to  accept  the  offer,  but  positively  refused,  as  he  said,  to 
leave  his  inexperienced  stockholders  in  the  lurch.  Then 
the  Western    Stone    Company    offered  to  buy  out  his 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  29 

interest  in  the  two  concerns,  if  he  would  accept  the  man- 
agement offered.  He  declined  to  sell.  After  that  it 
offered  to  buy  all  the  stock  of  both  the  Joliet  and  Cres- 
cent. To  this  Mr.  Madden  replied  he  would  say  nothing 
until  he  had  consulted  his  partners.  He  placed  the  prop- 
osition before  them,  They  were  a  good  deal  surprised  at 
the  loyalty  of  their  Manager.  The  acceptance  of  the 
corporation's  offer  would  have  placed  him  at  the  very 
head  of  the  stone  business  in  the  United  States,  with 
unlimited  capital  for  operation.  That  was  a  most  envia- 
ble position  for  any  man,  especially  for  one  scarce  thirty- 
five  years  of  age.  They  asked  him  for  a  frank  statement 
of  his  desire  in  the  affair  as  well  as  of  the  advice  he 
thought  best.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  admit  that  the 
proposal  was  agreeable  to  him  and  in  the  line  of  his  com- 
mercial ambition;  nor  did  he  conceal  his  conviction  that 
the  salary  proffered  was  much  greater  than  the  business 
of  his  partners  would  enable  them  to  pay  him.  He 
thought  the  best  solution  would  lie  in  a  sale  of  the  Joliet 
and  Crescent,  if  that  could  be  effected  on  satisfactory 
terms.  Then,  he  said,  their  investment  would  remain  in 
his  management  under  more  advantageous  conditions. 
If  they  took  cash  for  their  stock,  At  might  be  difficult  to 
invest  it  as  well  as  it  was  already  placed,  but  if  they 
managed  to  have  it  merged  in  the  larger  company  it 
might  yield  still  greater  dividends.  However,  if  his 
partners  concluded  to  hold  on  to  their  independent  busi- 
ness, he  would  stay  with  them. 

They  quickly  agreed  to  sell,  proposing  an  attempt  to 
merge.  They  put  the  price  of  all  the  stock  in  both  their 
companies  at  the  high  figure  of  $350,000,  but  empowered 
Madden  to  make  the  best  disposition  of  "it  he  could.     He 


30  MARTIN   B.  MADDEN 

at  once  saw  the  powers  of  the  Western  Stone  Company, 
and  within  half  an  hour  sold  to  them  the  stock  of  the 
Joliet  and  Crescent  for  $300,000  in  the  shares  of  the 
corporation,  a  far  better  deal  than  for  $350,000  cash. 
The  contract  of  sale  included  his  employment  as  Vice- 
President  and  Manager  of  the  Western  Stone  Company. 

This  concern  now  had  the  sole  quarrying  and  sale  of 
all  the  Athens  limestone  known  to  be  available  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Chicago.  As  Vice-President  and  Man- 
ager, Madden  at  once  set  about  the  task  of  increasing  the 
business  of  his  employers.  He  introduced  labor-saving 
devices  to  improve  the  efficiency  of  the  company's  labor. 
This  was  for  the  purpose  of  decreasing  the  cost  of  pro- 
duction and  increasing  the  sales  by  broadening  the 
market  for  all  forms  of  the  stone. 

It  was  not  long  before  the  President  of  the  company 
became  aware  that  much  new  business  was  being  secured 
and  transacted  that  he  had  no  hand  in.  He  misunder- 
stood the  duties  of  his  office  and  supposed  that  he  was  to 
be  consulted  about  every  detail.  He  soon  adopted  the 
policy  of  interference,  and  carried  it  so  far  as  to  prohibit 
the  initiation  of  any  new  method  in  the  management  of 
the  corporation's  varied  operations  until  he  had  been 
consulted.  As  he  was  a  very  rich  man,  engaged  in  many 
other  enterprises  and  seldom  about  the  premises  of  the 
Western  Stone  Company,  his  attitude,  if  acquiesced  in, 
would  leave  the  Manager  idle  a  great  part  of  the  time. 
The  result  would  be  a  loss  of  orders  and  a  diversion  of 
much  trade  the  company  might  secure.  To  a  man  of 
Madden's  energy  and  practical  knowledge  this  was  fool- 
ish as  well  as  exasperating.  He  at  once  hunted  up  his 
superior   to  bring  matters  to  an  issue.      The  Manager 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  31 

claimed  that  it  was  his  province  to  run  the  business, 
make  sales,  attend  to  the  collections,  and  earn  the  divi- 
dends, under  whatever  policy  the  Board  of  Directors 
should  adopt,  and  that  the  President's  duty  was  confined 
to  seeing  that  the  policy  was  adhered  to.  As  long  as  the 
Manager,  who  was  always  present,  correctly  adhered  to 
the  outlined  policy,  the  matter  of  details  was  altogether 
one  of  management,  he  alone  being  responsible  for 
results  and  employed  to  accomplish  them.  The  situation 
was  delicate.  The  President  was  Chairman  of  the  Board 
of  Directors  at  the  time,  and  felt  that  he  was  called  upon 
to  manage  as  well  as  direct.  The  directors  were  all 
rich,  prominent  and  powerful  men,  and,  without  looking 
closely  into  the  merits  of  the  question,  seemed  to  indorse 
the  President's  view.  The  latter  was  really  unable  to 
give  sufficient  time  to  become  well  acquainted  with  all 
the  circumstances  necessary  to  keep  in  view  for  the 
proper  carrying  on  of  such  an  immense  business.  His 
attitude  was  one  of  obstruction,  dangerous  to  the  stock- 
holders' interests,  and  likely  to  produce  successful  com- 
petition. One  day  he  carried  much  indignation  into  the 
office  of  the  Manager  and  criticised  him  severely  for 
arousing  the  animosity  of  outside  competitors.  "Why," 
said  the  President,  "with  your  mechanical  appliances  you 
are  reducing  the  price  of  stone  to  such  a  point  that  your 
undersales  are  provoking  criticism.  The  men  in  the 
trade  all  over  the  country  are  sending  in  complaints  to 
the  board  all  the  time.  This  thing  must  be  stopped,  or 
the  company  will  not  have  a  friend  left  in  the  trade." 

It  seemed  useless  to  argue  with  a  powerful  man  labor- 
ing under  such  a  trade  misconception.  The  Manager, 
however,  felt  sure  of  his  ground,   and  pointed  out  the 


32  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

danger  of  allowing  competitors  to  regulate  the  policy  of 
the  company.  He  maintained  that  the  only  way  to  carry 
on  the  business  was  to  increase  the  sales  as  much  as  pos- 
sible in  every  legitimate  way.  The  best  way  of  all  was 
to  reduce  the  prices  of  stone  to  the  lowest  point  attaina- 
ble, by  every  scheme  available,  to  attract,  enlarge  and 
retain  trade,  letting  competitors  look  out  for  themselves. 
To  protect  them  by  refusing  to  adopt  economical  devices 
and  methods  was  to  share  with  them  business  that  prop- 
erly belonged  to  the  corporation's  own  stockholders. 
The  President  wTas  obdurate.  He  even  went  so  far  as  to 
appoint  a  sort  of  superintendent  to  take  his  own  place 
during  necessary  absence  and  to-  assist  the  Manager  in 
retarding  the  business. 

Mr.  Madden  declined  to  permit  the  new  appointee  to 
have  anything  to  do  with  the  management  of  the  busi- 
ness, even  to  draw  a  salary.  His  own  pay  was  a  matter 
of  contract,  as  was  his  position.  He  then  assembled  the 
many  stockholders  who  had  invested  their  money  in  the 
company's  shares  on  the  strength  of  his  management, 
explained  the  situation  to  them,  and  asked  to  be  relieved 
of  responsibility  for  the  care  of  their  investments.  He 
urged  the  abolition  of  his  office  because  its  duties  were 
so  usurped  by  the  President  that  there  was  no  field  for 
vice-presidential  work.  There  was  a  general  demurrer  to 
this  and  a  clearing  of  the  atmosphere.  He  was  asked 
to  take  the  presidency.  This  he  positively  refused  to  do. 
He  preferred  the  management  if.  it  could  be  freed  from 
unnecessary  interference  so  that  he  would  be  able  to 
develop  trade  and  earn  dividends.  The  consultation 
resulted  in  his  retention  of  his  office  and  a  modified  inter- 
ference. 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  33 

The  effects  of  the  panic  of  1893  were  becoming  more 
widespread  and  a  general  stoppage  of  building  and  public 
improvements  was  going  on.  The  division  of  power  and 
maladjustment  of  duties  in  the  management  tended  still 
to  impede  the  seeking  of  trade  and  the  earning  of  income, 
and  in  1894  the  corporation's  business  reached  the  point 
of  serious  loss.  That  brought  the  stockholders  and  direc- 
tors to  the  whole  truth.  They  lost  no  time  in  reorganiz- 
ing the  entire  management.  They  made  the  presidency 
the  managerial  office  of  the  concern  and  elected  Mr. 
Madden  to  the  place.  He  accepted  and  was  installed  on 
the  16th  of  January,  1895. 

The  water-carrier  of  Lemont,  after  footing  every 
round  of  the  ladder,  was  now  at  the  very  top.  The  new 
President  had  gone  through  every  experience  in  the 
stone  trade.  He  was  the  most  thoroughly  experienced 
and  enlightened  man  in  the  business  in  the  entire  coun- 
try, and  had  the  wjdest  knowledge  of  the  building 
industry.  It  had  taken  him  thirty  long  years  of  hard  toil 
to  gain  his  mental  equipment.  He  was  asked  to  take  the 
supreme  control  of  the  largest  and  most  completely 
organized  concern  for  the  quarrying,  handling  and 
marketing  of  building  stone  in  the  world;  to  earn  divi- 
dends on  the  immense  property  and  to  do  it  in  the  period 
of  the  greatest  depression  ever  known  to  the  trade.  He 
took  hold  of  his  task  with  as  much  confidence  as  he  dis- 
played when  he  carried  his  first  bucket  of  water.  He 
had  a  capital  of  $2,500,000.  The  stockholders  were  all 
rich  and  able,  as  well  as  willing,  to  put  up  all  the  assess- 
ments that  might  be  needed.  There  were  50  boats  and 
500  teams  of  horses  at  the  yards;  2,700  men  were  at 
work.  There  was  a  deficit  in  the  past  year's  accounts  of 
8 


34  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

$90,000  and  a  debt  of  $158,000.  He  at  once  increased 
the  expenditures  $108,000  to  improve  the  equipment. 
He  cut  off  400  useless  salaries.  He  reduced  the  cost  of 
quarrying,  cutting  and  transporting  the  output  33  1-3  per 
cent.  He  put  down  prices  and  enlarged  the  demand. 
He  sold  12,000  carloads  of  cut  stone  in  outside  markets 
that  year,  besides  hundreds  of  boat-loads  in  Chicago. 
From  the  very  first  day  of  his  term  he  increased  the 
receipts  so  that  he  was  enabled  to  make  money  by 
advancing  cash  on  outstanding  current  debts  and  in  this 
way  discounted  every  bill  against  the  house  during  the 
year.  When  he  gave  account  at  the  end  of  twelve 
months  to  his  employers,  he  turned  over  clear  receipts 
for  the  debts,  4  per  cent,  net  on  every  dollar  of  the  stock, 
and  a  business  larger  and  more  profitable  than  the 
investors  had  ever  before  had  for  their  money. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


LABOR  SAVING   INVENTIONS — MADDEN  S    METHOD   OF   INTRODUCING 
THEM — LABOR'S  FRIEND. 


THE  principal  difficulty  experienced  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  large  number  of  skilled  laborers  it  was 
necessary  to  keep  employed  in  the  development  of  the 
Lemont  and  Joliet  stone  quarries  was  in  the  introduction 
of  machinery.  The  men  were  getting  high  wages,  labor 
was  scarce,  the  workers  realized  the  value  of  the  monopoly 
they  had,  and  they  were  jealous  and  watchful  of  their 
own  interests.  Much  of  the  time  the  demand  for  stone 
kept  ahead  of  the  supply.  A  strike  at  any  period  was 
calamitous  for  the  companies.  To  attempt  to  increase 
the  output  by  the  introduction  of  machinery  was  gener- 
ally perilous.  It  could  under  few  circumstances  be 
brought  in  without  the  consent  of  the  men.  They  had 
been  taught  by  their  leaders  that  labor-saving  machines 
were  rivals  to  human  hands,  and  their  attitude  was 
usually  one  of  opposition.  The  task  of  meeting  the  diffi- 
culty was  always  imposed  on  Madden.  In  him  the  men 
had  confidence.  They  had  seen  him  labor  like  them- 
selves. He  had  always  been  their  friend.  His  sym- 
pathies were,  as  a  rule,  with  them  in  their  differences 
with  the  employers.  He  had  risen  in  their  sight  by  pure 
merit.  Every  accession  of  power  that  had  come  to  him 
had  been  earned;  not  one  had  been  sought,  schemed  for, 

35 


36  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

or  secured  by  any  kind  of  outside  aid.  The  more  powerful 
he  grew  the  better  their  interests  were  cared  for.  What- 
ever he  had  to  say  was  listened  to. 

Madden  himself  devised  most  of  the  mechanical  con- 
trivances put  into  the  quarries.  From  the  time  he  fin- 
ished his  studies  in  mechanical  drawing  and  civil  engin- 
eering it  had  been  his  idea  that  the  business  of  handling 
stone  should  be  gradually  transformed  until  it  became 
like  that  of  handling  lumber.  Instead  of  blasting  out 
unshaped  masses  and  putting  them  on  the  market  as  they 
came  from  the  quarries,  they  should  be  shorn  of  waste, 
he  thought,  and  put  into  form  where  taken  out.  That 
would  at  the  beginning  lessen  prices  by  cutting  off  trans- 
portation charges  on  useless  material.  The  decrease  in 
price  thus  obtained  would  enlarge  the  demand  and 
increase  the  quarrying. 

The  men  easily  saw  that,  and  there  was  not  much 
trouble  in  bringing  about  a  combination  of  cutting  and 
blasting  at  the  works.  They  rather  liked  the  increase  of 
the  laboring  population  brought  about  by  the  combina- 
tion. It  raised  the  value  of  lots  and  the  circulation  of 
money  in  the  neighborhood,    and  made  business  thrive. 

Then  the  number  of  forms  was  increased.  This  went 
on  until  Madden,  had  succeeded  in  getting  into  stock 
shapes  all  sizes  of  steps,  balustrades,  newel  posts,  door 
and  window  sills  and  tops,  door  and  window  side  uprights, 
hearth-stones  and  chimney  cappings,  in  addition  to  the 
old  stock  forms  of  flagging,  paving  and  curbing  blocks. 
Each  new  form  added  to  the  old  jobbing  stock  was  the 
result  of  much  investigation  of  the  possibilities  of  the 
building  market,  as  it  had  to  be  put  into  competition 
with  lumber  stocks.      But  Madden  thought  that  stone 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  37 

might  with  advantage  be  worked  into  the  market  as  a 
competitor  of  the  inflammable  and  perishable  material. 
When  he  had  succeeded  in  finding  sale  for  all  the  shapes 
in  which  stone  might  take  the  place  of  wood  in  the  staple 
parts  of  building  material,  the  problem  became  one  of 
holding  and  enlarging  the  market.  That  brought  it 
down  to  the  question  of  cost  of  production  solely.  The 
cutters  saw  this.  The  quarrymen  were,  of  course,  with 
Madden  in  his  efforts  to  increase  the  sales  of  the  finished 
stone.  So  wrere  the  cutters,  if  it  augmented  their  earn- 
ings or  added  to  their  number  without  cutting  down 
wages.  But  it  was  not  easy  to  get  more  masons.  The 
subject  of  new  machinery  had,  therefore,  to  be  met. 

Madden  devised  a  number  of  machines  for  drilling, 
sawing,  planing,  squaring,  roughing  and  otherwise 
masoning  the  stone.  He  proposed  their  introduction  one 
by  one,  demonstrating  in  each  case  that  the  appliance, 
having  to  be  operated  by  a  skilled  mason,  lessened  his 
work  by  throwing  most  of  the  hard  part  of  it  on  the 
machine.  It,  therefore,  increased  the  man's  efficiency 
and  lightened  his  toil.  In  the  next  place,  it  enabled 
each  man  to  greatly  increase  his  day's  output.  If  the 
market  did  riot  increase,  this,  of  course,  would  enable 
the  company  to  supply  it  with  less  masons.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  vastly  enlarged  manufacture  at  practi- 
cally no  increased  cost,  because  the  machines  would 
become  part  of  the  plant,  would  enable  the  company  to 
reduce  prices  so  as  to  sell  all  the  present  number  of 
masons  employed  could  turn  out.  If  the  lessened  prices 
could  be  got  down  to  the  point  where  stone  would  be 
preferable  to  wood,  then  the  demand  for  stone  would  be 
so  enlarged  that  it  would  require  more  masons  to  supply 


38  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

it.  In  that  case  the  machines  would  not  only  make  the 
work  of  the  masons  easier,  but  would  enlarge  the  num- 
ber employed,  and  might  even  result  in  higher  wages  for 
less  actual  hard  work.  No  reasonable  cutter  would  strike 
against  an  experiment  with  such  an  end  in  view. 

By  such  consideration  of  the  feelings  of  the  men,  and 
through  demonstrations  all  looking  to  their  interest, 
Madden  succeeded  in  gradually  introducing  every  one  of 
his  many  inventions.  In  every  case,  without  an  excep- 
tion, his  theories,  as  he  placed  them  before  the  men, 
worked  out  better  than  he  had  ever  intimated  they 
would.  He  had  always  made  it  a  rule  in  his  dealings 
with  his  men  to  tell  them  the  truth;  to  never  dissimulate 
or  equivocate  at  all;  and  to  always  theorize  or  promise 
moderately  and  as  far  as  possible  within  the  mark.  The 
quarrymen  and  masons  were  accustomed  to  seeing  his 
word  result  better  than  his  pledge.  As  one  after  another 
of  .his  labor-saving  devices  came  into  use,  the  company's 
business  grew  until  the  total  historical  result  was  that 
the  quarries  quintupled  the  number  of  their  employes 
and  wages  all  around  were  exactly  trebled.  The 
machines  had  enabled  the  management  to  reduce  the 
wholesale  prices  of  the  principal  staple  forms  of  stone 
from  52  to  16  cents  a  piece;  from  87  to  35  cents  a  piece; 
from  $1.50  to  50  cents  a  piece;  and  of  all  other  shapes 
proportionately.  The  market  as  a  result  was  enormously 
and  permanently  enlarged  and  the  stockholders  profited 
as  well  as  the  men. 

It  is  a  fact  that  to-day  (July,  1900)  the  men  employed 
by  the  companies  under  Mr.  Madden's  management  are 
the  best  paid  stone  workers  in  America,  and  their  work 
is  lightened    by  most   efficient   mechanical    appliances. 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  39 

The  lowest  form  of  labor  engaged  in  any  of  his  quarries 
receives  25  cents  a  day  more  than  the  same  class  of  work 
gets  anywhere  else  in  the  world.  He  has  always  been 
the  workingman's  friend.  His  sympathies  are  naturally 
with  the  poor.  He  understands  poverty  and  realizes  how 
much  of  it  is  due  altogether  to  fortune.  As  a  business 
man  he  knows  that  the  best  labor  is  the  happiest;  the 
happiest  the  best'paid.  His  studies  in  political  economy 
have  shown  him  that  the  two  interests  in  this  world  that 
need  wages — that  cannot  subsist  without  them — capital 
and  labor,  are  necessarily  partners  in  the  firm  of  Produc- 
tion; that  labor  will  best  enable  capital  to  get  its  wages, 
interest,  when  capital  best  helps  labor  to  get  its  pay, 
wages.  Where  he  lives,  in  the  community  where  his 
entire  laborious,  useful  life  has  been  spent,  since  his  youth 
in  public,  responsible  capacities,  he  is  recognized  by  all 
as  the  fairest  man  to  the  interests  of  both  capital  and 
labor.  The  recognition  of  his  position  in  this  respect  is 
so  general  and  so  undisputed  that  in  most  cases  of  dis- 
pute he  is  solicited  by  both  sides  to  act  as  arbiter.  And 
such  is  the  confidence  in  his  intelligence  and  uprightness 
that  when  controversies  are  placed  with  him  for  decision, 
in  all  cases  wherein  he  can  incline  to  neither  side,  both 
retreat  from  their  contention  and  leave  the  adjustment  to 
his  individual  creation. 

While  conducting  the  large  and  complicated  business 
of  the  Western  Stone  Company,  Mr.  Madden  also  acted 
as  Treasurer  of  the  Legnard-Madden  Brick  Company, 
Treasurer  of  the  Cable  Building  and  Loan  Association, 
Director  of  the  Garden  City  Banking  &  Trust  Company, 
Director  of  the  Commercial  and  Loan  Company,  and 
Trustee  of  the  State  Reformatories. 


40  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

He  was  selected  by  Governor  Altgeld  for  the  latter 
office  because  of  the  financial  talent  needed  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  new  building  at  Pontiac,  which  was  to 
cost  $500,000  and  be  capable  of  properly  housing  1,500 
inmates. 

As  bank  and  building  and  loan  association  director, 
Mr.  Madden  solved  the  problem  of  eliminating  the  evil 
of.  one-man  power  from  the  institutions  with  which  he 
was  connected — the  evil  that  invariably  results  in  the 
financial  destruction  of  every  fiscal  enterprise  in  which  it 
is  permitted  to  hold  sway.  In  the  banking  business  he 
insisted  on  having  the  President  confined  in  his  work  to 
carrying  out  the  instructions  of  the  directors  and  on  hav- 
ing them  consider,  decide  and  order  every  action  involv- 
ing the  responsible  use  of  the  funds.  To  prevent  abuse 
of  power  on  the  one  hand  and  neglect  on  the  other  in  the 
management  of  association  business,  necessarily  left 
largely  in  the  hands  of  the  one  official  under  salary  and 
always  on  duty,  Mr.  Madden  conceived  and  had  put  into 
practice  the  plan  of  limiting  the  expenses  to  such  a  per- 
centage on  the  money  authorized  by  the  directory  to  be 
loaned  as  would  make  it  to  the  interest  of  the  Manager 
to  keep  that  sum  out  and  at  the  same  time  prevent  finan- 
cial abuses. 


CHAPTER  V. 


CONTRACTOR    CARELESS — THE   MISTAKE    OF    TOLERATING    DISHON- 
ESTY— ACCEPTING    PUNISHMENT. 


IN  any  large  business  wherein  the  policy  is  formed  and 
controlled  by  a  board  of  directors  and  carried  out  by 
the  executive  head  of  the  concern,  while  he  necessarily 
has  a  large  discretion  it  must  often  happen  that  his 
actions  will  be  hampered  or  assisted  by  the  unofficial  con- 
duct of  the  members.  It  is  difficult  indeed  to  obtain  a 
perfect  business  manager.  He  must  be  a  man  who 
thoroughly  understands  the  business  he  is  trusted  to 
conduct,  who  can  be  depended  upon  to  get  out  of  it  all 
the  results  his  stockholders  are  entitled  to  obtain,  and 
who  at  the  same  time  possesses,  and  will  exercise,  the 
tact  to  inspire  all  his  employers  to  let  him  have  his  own 
way  entirely.  Mr.  Madden's  experience  and  his  knowl- 
edge of  himself  made  him  self-reliant.  He  was  willing 
to  be  advised  and  always  invited  counsel,  but  early  in  his 
business  career  he  had  discovered  that  he  was  far  more 
apt  than  most  of  his  commercial  associates  to  go  to  the 
bottom  of  things  before  taking  action.  He,  therefore, 
depended  not  only  on  his  own  judgment  but  upon  his 
impressions  of  men,  particularly  those  formed  of  a  man 
acting  off  guard. 

A  well-known  and  large  dealing  contractor  called  one 
day  at  the  offices  of  the  Western  Stone  Companv  to  enquire 

41 


42  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

about  the  prices  of  many  sizes  of  building  stone.  He 
presented  good  references  and  established  sufficient 
credit  for  the  transaction  on  hand,  and  after  more  or  less 
bargaining  placed  a  large  order  for  material.  Mr.  Mad- 
den, in  issuing  instructions  for  its  delivery,  cautioned 
the  executive  clerks  to  conduct  the  details  of  all  dealings 
with  this  man  with  especial  care.  The  contractor  had 
made  so  good  an  impression  by  his  personal  appearance, 
manner,  and  general  way  of  carrying  on  his  part  of  the 
negotiation,  that  the  caution  attracted  much  attention. 
One  of  the  officers  of  the  company  asked  why  this  cus- 
tomer had  been  singled  out  for  special  remark.  4l  Be- 
cause," replied  Madden,  "he  is  handling  other  people's 
money  and  is  not  careful  enough  to  get  full  value  for  all 
he  pays  out. " 

4 'Why,  he  is  one  of  the  easiest  men  to  deal  with  that 
ever  came  here  for  material,"  was  rejoined;  "he  didn't 
haggle  at  all.     We  got  through  with  him  in  no  time/' 

"That's  just  it.  Whenever  a  man  who  is  spending 
funds  entrusted  to  him  is  not  particular  enough  to  haggle 
for  all  he  can  get  for  the  money,  he  is  Hot  as  honest  as  a 
man  should  be.  This  man  did  not  push  matters  here  at 
all;  if  he  had  been  diligent  he  might  have  made  a  much 
better  bargain.  Why  should  we  not  watch  him  when 
he  himself  places  right  before  us  evidence  of  his  unreli- 
ability?" 

The  contractor  continued  his  patronage  and  it  was 
valuable.  He  always  paid  his  bills  promptly  and  became 
such  a  favorite  in  the  office  that  he  received  especial  con- 
sideration each  time  he  came.  In  most  of  his  dealings, 
however,  there  was  some  little  looseness.  He  would  fail 
sometimes  to  insist  on  getting  certain   pieces  of  stone 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  43 

due,  or  carelessly  approve  accounts  superficial  examina- 
tion would  have  shown  to  be  incorrectly  tallied  against 
him.  The  office  was  continually  finding  out  and  correct- 
ing these  errors  on  its  own  initiative.  The  head  clerks 
used  these  incidents  as  arguments  in  favor  of  the  cus- 
tomer. "You  see,"  they  would  say,  "he  has  absolute 
confidence  in  the  company;  he  knows  it  will  not  see 
him  cheated;  it  all  shows  what  a  good  reputation  we 
have." 

"On  the  contrary,"  the  General  Manager  would  reply, 
"it  shows  that  the  company  is  constantly  making  gifts 
to  the  man  to  save  his  backers  from  the  losses  his  own 
infidelity  to  their  trust  would  otherwise  cause  them.  We, 
of  course,  do  not  want  and  would  not  keep  anything  he 
pays  for;  but  no  man  is  altogether  square  who  does  not 
get  all  that  others  trust  him  to  buy  after  he  pays  their 
money  for  it.  Such  a  man  is  either  intentionally  or 
unintentionally  not  quite  honest.  He  should  be  watched, 
for  often  such  lapses  as  this  man  is  continually  making 
here  are  intentional.  When  they  are,  he  will  record  them 
all  in  his  memory  as  an  investment  against  this  house, 
and  in  his  own  good  time  he  will  attempt  to  realize  upon 
them  by  some  assumption  or  demand  which  he  will  cal- 
culate we  cannot  then  very  well  refuse.  It  is  my  order 
that  his  account  be  scrupulously  kept  and  that  extra  care 
be  taken  that  no  debit  shall  arise  against  us  through  any 
lapse  of  his." 

Some  of  the  executive  clerks  attributed  this  to  preju- 
dice, but  Mr.  Madden  was  sure  he  entertained  no  preju- 
dice except  what  the  customer's  methods  would  naturally 
arouse  in  any  conscientious  business  man.  The  con- 
tractor's personality  was  so  engaging  that  it  would  be  dif- 


44  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

ficult  not  to  like  him.  His  way  of  doing  business  was 
alone  objectionable. 

Matters  went  along  in  this  way  for  about  five  years, 
during  which  the  business  relations  between  the  company 
and  the  contractor  continued  as  above  described.  The 
General  Manager  had  about  concluded  to  allow  the  senti- 
ment of  the  office  to  control  his  judgment  in  its  dealings 
with  Mr.  Careless,  and  to  keep  the  prejudice  he  could 
not  stifle  all  to  himself. 

About  this  time  the  city  was  hurrying  up  the  work 
of  track  elevation  within  the  corporate  limits.  An 
important  section  of  work,  which  would  cost  $1,000,000 
to  accomplish,  was  about  to  be  let,  and  Mr.  Careless  was 
anxious  to  secure  it.  On  one  of  his  business  visits  to 
the  offices  of  the  Western  Stone  Company,  he  disclosed 
his  desire  to  Mr.  Madden  and  asked  him  for  a  personal 
letter  of  introduction  to  the  President  of  the  company 
that  would  let  the  $1,000,000  job.  This  gentleman  and 
Mr.  Madden  were  close  friends,  but  Careless  gave  no 
indication  that  he  was  aware  of  that.  The  request  was 
a  fair  one  under  all  the  circumstances — it  was  for  a  mere 
letter  of  introduction  from  one  business  man  to  another 
for  a  customer  who  had  largely  patronized  the  one  and 
wished  to  make  a  proposal  to  the  other.  As  President 
of  the  stone  company,  Mr.  Madden  wrote  the  letter. 
In  it  he  simply  affirmed  that  he  had  known  the  bearer 
in  a  business  way  for  about  five  years;  that  he  was  a  con- 
tractor who  understood  his  business;  that  he  had  pur- 
chased a  great  deal  of  material  from  the  Western  Stone 
Company  during  the  period  mentioned,  and  had  always 
paid  the  bills  for  it  promptly. 

A  few  days  after  giving  this  letter  Mr.  Madden  was 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  45 

called  to  the  long  distance  telephone  by  some  one  600 
miles  away  who  wished  to  speak  to  him  on  an  important 
matter.  It  was  th6  President.  "Madden,  your  friend, 
Careless,  has  presented  your  letter  of  recommendation  to  me 
along  with  a  bid  for  that  $1,000,000  contract.  We  want 
to  give  it  to  him  on  your  account,  but  his  bid  is  altogether 
too  high.  We  have  told  him  to  reduce  it,  and  that  then 
we'll  give  him  the  job.  He  needn't  make  his  figures  the 
lowest,  with  the  testimonials  he  has." 

The  President  was  acquainted  with  Madden's  habit  of 
conservatism  in  business  correspondence  and  had  without 
any  study  extended  the  meaning  of  the  letter.  There 
was  no  man  in  the  city  the  company  would  rather  have 
interested  in  the  construction  work  going  on  than  the 
President  of  the  Western  Stone  Company. 

Contractor  Careless,  it  is  needless  to  say,  obtained  the 
contract.  When  the  award  had  been  made  he  called 
upon  Mr.  Madden  and  asked  him  to  become  bondsman 
for  fulfillment  of  the  contract.  While  holding  this 
request  under  consideration  he  received  over  the  'phone, 
from  the  letting  company's  office,  a  request  that  he 
endorse  the  contract  as  bondsman,  since  the  Western 
Stone  Company  was  furnishing  all  the  cut  stone  used  by 
the  different  contractors  in  the  work  going  on,  the  let- 
ting companies  obligating  themselves  to  see  that  the 
Western  would  be  paid.  To  this  message  there  was 
nothing  to  answer  except  assent. 

At  this  time  Mr.  Madden  had  completed  preparations 
for  taking  a  holiday  trip  to  Europe  with  his  wife,  and 
was  on  the  point  of  departure.  He  found  that  the  con- 
tractor had  secured  as  his  other  bondsman  an  intimate 
wealthy  business  friend  of  Mr.  Madden.     Hastily  con- 


46  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

ferring  with  him  it  was  agreed  that  before  endorsing 
the  contract  it  should  be  arranged  that  the  bondsmen 
should  have  the  selection  of  a  mutual  friend  to  superin- 
tend the  work  done  under  it,  for  their  protection,  the 
choice  to  be  left  to  Mr.  Madden's  colleague. 

The  bond  required  placed  the  signers  under  a  $50,000 
obligation  to  see  that  the  work  was  done  according  to 
the  specifications  send  that  all  bills  should  be  paid  as  they 
fell  due  during  the  progress  of  the  work.  Just  as  Mr. 
Madden  was  about  to  board  his  train  on  the  way  to  enjoy 
his  vacation  his  secretary  overtook  him  with  the  com- 
pleted papers  in  the  case  and  obtained  his  signature. 

Work  under  .the  contract  was  commenced  at  once, 
with  the  superintendent  chosen  by  the  other  bondsman 
in  charge  as  overseer. 

Mr.  Madden  remained  away  altogether  seven  weeks. 
When  he  reached  the  quarantine  station  at  New  York 
on  his  return,  he  received  by  special  delivery,  a  telegram 
from  Chicago,  marked  "Rush."  "Important."  It 
stated  that  everything  had  gone  wrong  in  the  contract 
enterprise,  and  asked  him  to  wait  at  the  Fifth  Avenue 
Hotel  until  his  fellow-bondsman  should  arrive,  stating 
that  he  would  take  the  first  train  after  being  apprised  of 
the  acceptance  of  the  appointment,  and  urged  a  "rush" 
answer.  The  whole  situation  disclosed  itself,  and  a  reply 
was  telegraphed  to  call  Madden  up  by  telephone  at  the 
Hotel  at  two  o'clock  next  afternoon.  It  was  night,  the 
ship  would  have  to  lie  at  quarantine  until  sunrise,  and 
could  hardly  land  its  passengers  in  time  to  keep  appoint- 
ments in  the  city  much  befoi*e  that  hour.  The  vessel  was 
fortunate  in  getting  through  next  day  earlier  than  had 
been  calculated  and  Mr.   Madden  lost  no  time  in  calling 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  47 

up  his  own  office  in  Chicago  by  telephone  and  learning 
the  whole  story  of  the  trouble.  Thus  equipped  he  met. 
his  partner  at  the  wire  at  two  o'clock  and  then  got  his 
tale.  It  didn't  differ  much  from  the  one  already  received, 
but  it  contained  the  statement  that  the  bondsman  had 
already  been  compelled  to  pay  out  over  $70,000  in 
cash,  besides  assuming  unknown  amounts  of  liability, 
and  that  things  would  have  been  much  worse  but  for  the 
diligence  of  the  superintendent.  Madden  said  he  would 
take  the  first  through  train  home;  it  would  pass  Elkhart, 
Ind. ,  at  a  certain  hour;  if  the  overseer  would  board  the 
train  there  with  a  full  written  statement  of  the  accounts 
and  able  to  give  complete  explanations,  a  plan  of  action 
might  be  devised  by  the  time  Chicago  was  reached.  At 
the  Indiana  town  the  overseer  boarded  the  cars  and 
Madden  and  he  were  soon  engaged  in  sifting  the  case. 
It  required  but  a  short  time  and  but  little  questioning 
to  convince  Mr.  Madden  that  his  informant  was  either  at 
sea  on  the  facts,  or  was  in  collusion  with  the  contractor 
and  was  attempting  to  deceive  him,  as  he  felt  he  had 
probably  fooled  the  other  bondsman.  His  repeated 
efforts  to  secure  the  contractor's  dismissal  and  his  boast- 
ings of  how  he  had  worked  night  and  day  to  prevent 
matters  from  becoming  worse  then  they  were  suggested 
in  some  way  dishonesty.  Towards  him  an  inquisitive 
but  non-committal  policy  was  maintained  the  remainder 
of  the  journey.  Soon  after  the  train  left  Elkhart  a  tele- 
gram was  received  asking  for  a  meeting  at  nine  o'clock 
that  night  in  Chicago.  As  the  train  was  not  due  until 
that  hour,  it  was  evident  that  the  waiting  partner  was  in 
an  excited  frame  of  mind  and  that  the  condition  of  the 


48  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

business  was  growing  worse.  An  appointment  was  tele- 
graphed for  the  next  morning. 

As  soon  as  the  city  was  "reached  Mr.  Madden  saw  his 
wife  home  and*  spent  the  night  getting  the  real  facts. 
When  these  were  in  hand  it  was  apparent  that  unques- 
tionable control  of  the  case  would  have  to  be  obtained 
and  that  a  large  amount  of  cash  would  be  needed  early 
in  the  morning.  The  times  were  hard  and  money  was 
difficult  to  raise  even  under  the  most  favorable  circum- 
stances.    Nevertheless,  it  was  got. 

The  partners  met  next  morning,  the  one  naturally 
feverish,  but  the  other  steady  and  fixed  for  action. 
44  We've  been  robbed!"  exclaimed  the  one.  "I've  already 
been  obliged  to  put  up  $70,000  in  cash,  in  these  times 
when  money  is  the  hardest  thing  in  the  world  to  get. 
I've  had  to  stand  pat  on  the  contract  and  assume  all 
kinds  of  liability.  There  are  1,800  men  at  work.  I  have 
had  to  pay  all  their  wages  now  for  seven  weeks,  and 
there's  no  way  of  letting  them  go.  I'm  nearly  distracted 
over  the  whole  business.  And  here  you  are  as  placid  as 
if  nothing  at  all  had  happened.  Are  you  not  worried 
over  this  thing?" 

44 No,  it's  too  serious  for  worrying  or  being  nervous. 
We  need  our  energies  for  work.  That  is  the  only  thing 
that  will  save  us  both  from  far  more  serious  cause  for 
worry." 

44 Well,  but  what  are  you  going  to  do;  what  can  you 
do?" 

44 The  first  thing  I  am  going  to  do  is  to  pay  you  back 
the  money  you  have  lost  and  the  money  you  have  paid 
out  on  my  account.  You  have,  I  find,  paid  out,  under 
the  demands   of  the  contract  we  endorsed,   $70,000  in 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  49 

wages.  Half  of  that  I  am  responsible  for;  the  other  half 
you  are.  But  you  would  not  have  risked  this  responsi- 
bility except  for  my  partnership.  There's  $35,000  in 
cash.  It  makes  you  whole  for  your  half  of  the  loss.  The 
other  half,  which  you  have  voluntarily  advanced  for  me, 
I  will  make  good  to  you.  That  will  leave  you  without 
any  loss  on  the  contract  and  just  where  you  started. 
Now  we  can  talk  business. " 

The  atmosphere  being  now  cleared  and  calm,  Mr. 
Madden  told  his  partner  this:  the  overseer  was  worse 
than  the  contractor.  The  contract  had  simply  been 
worked  as  a  means  of  securing  business  in  other  direc- 
tions. Politicians  with  influence  in  the  letting  of  con- 
tracts had  been  supplied  with  guarantees  of  votes  by  put- 
ting their  workers  on  the  pay-roll  with  nothing  to  do  but 
district  organizing.  There  were  hundreds  of  such 
already  on  the  contractor's  books,  not  one  of  whom  had 
lifted  a  shovel.  It  was  the  excess  of  cash  expenditure  on 
this  wage  account  over  the  amount  of  actual  construction 
done  and  collected  for,  that  had  been  dunned  out  of  the 
bondsman.  The  conspiracy  was  unquestionably  the 
device  mainly  of  the  overseer.  The  contractor  might 
calculate  on  getting  other  jobs  for  this  political  help,  but 
the  real  conspirator  was  the  superintendent.  He  was 
worse  than  the  other  man  and  must  be  dismissed  at 
once. 

Next  the  whole  work  of  construction  must  be  shut 
down  to  end  expense,  and  not  be  resumed  until  the 
whole  business  was  purged. 

To  the  dismissal  of  his  own  appointee  the  bondsman 
reluctantly  consented  but  he  jumped  at  the  general 
proposition. 

4 


50  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

The  two  then  agreed  to  send  for  a  lawyer.  When  he 
came,  Mr.  Madden  explained  the  affair  to  him  and  said 
that  he  had  decided  to  secure  the  assignment  of  the 
entire  contract  over  to  the  bondsmen,  with  all  monies 
due  and  owing,  and  a  bill  of  sale  for  all  materials  on 
hand  and  arranged  for,  tools  and  everything.  The  law- 
yer saw  great  difficulty  in  compelling  any  man  to  assign 
such  a  valuable  contract.  "Tell  Careless,"  said  Mad- 
den, "that  if  he  refuses  to  assign  we  will  go  to  law  for 
relief  as  bondsmen  and  allege  as  grounds  all  we  know;  if 
he  consents,  we  will  retain  him  to  carry  on  the  work  as 
long  as  he  does  so  to  our  satisfaction. ' '  The  attorney 
put  his  great  skill  at  once  to  work  and  procured  the 
assignment,  taking  care  to  make  the  employment  clause 
in  the  consideration  optional  with  his  clients  as  to  con- 
tinuance. When  the  assignment  had  been  secured, 
"What  are  you  going  to  do  with  the  contract  now  that 
you  have  it?"  Mr.  Madden  was  asked.  "Sub-let  it?" 
To  everybody's  amazement  he  answered:  "Operate  it 
myself.     I'll  take  charge  of  the  work. " 

He  did.  He  had  reached  Chicago  on  September  5th. 
It  had  taken  him  two  days  to  complete  his  investigation, 
pay  his  partner,  get  rid  of  the  overseer,  obtain  the  assign- 
ment and  hire  Careless.  He  began  work  on  September 
7th.  He  found  1,800  men  on  the  pay  roll.  He  was  sat- 
isfied 800  were  all  he  needed.  Selecting  that  number  of 
the  most  efficient,  he  dismissed  the  rest  When  Careless 
began  again,  as  he  soon  did,  to  pad  the  pay  rolls,  Madden 
discharged  him  and  put  in  his  place  an  expert  of  his 
own  selection.  It  was  not  long  before  Careless  began  to 
make  demands  under  legal  advice  for  various  rights 
claimed  under  the  original  contract  or  through  the  alleged 


PUBLIC   SERVANT  51 

invalidity  of  the  assignment.  Madden  treated  these  as 
attempts  at  blackmail  and  to  make  his  way  clearer  had 
the  letting  company  make  a  new  contract  with  him  and 
his  fellow-bondsman  direct. 

The  work  was  suspended  for  a  while  in  November. 
At  that  time  stock  was  taken.  Madden  had  recouped 
the  whole  $70,000  originally  lost  and  had  $8,000  net 
profit  besides. 

When  work  was  resumed,  all  sorts  of  schemes  were 
devised  to  beat  the  new  invaders  in  the  contracting  field. 
Superintendents  from  the  concern  letting  the  work  con- 
stantly interfered  with  it,  demanding  all  sorts  of  changes 
in  the  specifications.  Every  reasonable  change  was 
assented  to  but  charged  up.  They  amounted  to  more 
than  $60,000  in  the  additional  expense  of  carrying  on  the 
construction,  and  the  company  was  so  struck  with  the 
reasonableness  of  the  demand  for  compensation  for  the 
changes  that  it  ordered  the  amount  added  to  the  contract 
bill. 

The  work  was  finished  in  the  following  November, 
and  was  so  carried  on  that  it  was  not  allowed  to  interfere 
in  any  way  with  Mr.  Madden's  care  of  any  other  of  his 
numerous  business  duties.  When  he  closed  the  books  he 
divided  $60,000  net  profit  with  his  partner  bondsman, 
in  addition  to  the  previous  $70,000  that  had  canceled 
their  early  loss. 

"There,"  said  he,  "ends  the  punishment  for  not 
adhering  to  a  first  well-founded  impression.'* 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    {USTICE    OF     FRIENDSHIP — THE     DEMANDS    OF    LAW — FRIEND- 
SHIP  SAVES. 


THE  demands  of  legal  justice  are  often  unjust.  They 
sometimes  deprive  the  world  of  the  services  of 
good  men.  To  properly  thwart  the  unfair  claims  of  the 
law  calls  for  the  action  of  a  person  who  must  himself  be 
beyond  suspicion  and  good  indeed.  Business  men  are 
sometimes  called  upon  to  face  much  unsound  criticism 
because  a  correct  sense  of  right  impels  them  to  withstand 
popular  clamor  in  cases  wherein  the  public,  even  with  all 
the  facts,  is  incapable  of  true  insight  into  the  actual 
merits  of  the  happening. 

For  its  own  protection  the  Western  Stone  Company 
adopted  a  plan  of  closing  its  books  on  the  last  day  of 
each  month.  No  matter  what  the  amount  of  business 
done  the  arrangement  required  the  balancing  of  accounts 
by  midnight  on  the  last  day  of  each  lunar  division. 

At  eleven  o'clock  on  such  a  night  one  of  the  young 
men  in  the  office  had  not  yet  reported  for  duty  after  the 
evening  meal.  He  must  be  ill,  it  was  .thought,  as  it  was 
the  first  time  during  the  twelve  long  years  of  his  faithful 
service  such  an  absence  had  occurred,  and  he  was  well 
aware  the  staff  was  overtaxed.  The  books  were  all  sat- 
isfactorily closed  by  extra  work  without  his  aid.  Next 
morning  he  continued  absent.  Everybody  in  the  estab- 
lishment  grew  concerned  and  the  books  were  opened 

52 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  53 

anew  without  his  presence.  When  noon  arrived  without 
him,  anxiety  ga\i$  way  to  dread,  and  a  special  messenger 
was  dispatched  to  his  boarding  house  to  learn  the  nature 
of  the  malady.  He  was  not  there.  He  had  gone  away 
the  night  before  in  as  good'  health  as  he  ever  had.  No 
explanation  was  left  by  him;  he  had  simply  disappeared. 
He  had  been  with  the  company  over  half  his  life  and 
had  risen  from  one  clerkship  to  another  until  he  had 
become  cashier,  entirely  trusted  with  the  handling  of  the 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  that  every  year  found 
their  way  to  and  from  the  corporation's  strong  box.  He 
was  handsome,  talented,  modest,  accommodating,  inval- 
uable, and  only  twenty-two  years  of  age.  He  was  moral 
and  had  no  bad  habits.  He  must  have  met  with  some 
accident  or  unfair  play,  since  his  accounts  balanced  to  a 
penny. 

Some  long  head  threw  out  the  suggestion,  "  Tally  the 
bank  book  with  the  cash  book."  The  tally  was  tried. 
There  was  $5,150  difference.  That  much  had  come  into 
the  office  that  had  not  gone  into  the  bank.  As  the  miss- 
ing man  received  all  the  cash  as  well  as  made  the 
deposits,  the  discrepancy  could  be  explained  by  him  only. 
Perhaps  he  did  not  wish  to  give  the  explanation  and  to 
avoid  it  remained  away.  More  research  showed  that  on 
one  day  during  the  past  four  the  company's  credit  at  the 
bank  received  $1,500  less  than  the  cash  receipts;  on 
another,  $1,500;  on  still  another,  $1,500,  and  on  the  last 
of  the  four,  $650  less.  It  was  too  plain — the  young  man 
had  gone  wrong. 

In  the  whole  history  of  the  company  no  man  connected 
with  its  management  had  ever  been  so  upset  as  was  the 
President  when  he  was  made  aware  of  this.      With  no 


54  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

abatement  of  *  his  affection  for  the  youth,  he  put  on  his 
hat,  took  all  his  energy  with  him,  and  se^t  out  on  a  search 
for  the  truth. 

It  was  the  races.  The  cashier  had  run  against  the 
races  and  had  lost?  The  President  learned  all  there  was 
in  the  whole  story.  He  came  back  to  his  office  sad,  sorry 
as  a  strong  man  can  be.  He  thought  awhile.  Then  he 
drew  out  his  personal  bank  check  book,  filled  out  an  order 
for  $5,150  payable  to  the  order  of  the  Western  Stone 
Company,  signed  it,  took  it  to  the  Directors'  room, 
handed  it  to  the  proper  official  and  said:  4 'That  covers 
the  whole  amount  of  the  company's  loss.  Take  it  and 
call  it  square." 

* 'But  that  would  condone  the  offense.  It  would  let 
the  cashier  off.  That'll  never  do.  He  must  be  arrested 
and  punished." 

"No,"  said  the  President,  "he  must  not  be  arrested 
and  disgraced.  He  is  not  guilty.  He  is  not  to  blame. 
I  know,  for  I  have  found  out.  I  make  the  company 
whole.  Let  that  end  it  and  stop  the  fuss.  I'll  find  the 
young  man,  and  don't  you  go  on  sending  him  to  the  devil. 
Leave  the  boy  to  me." 

Everybody  in  that  office  knew  that  what  the  President 
said  must  be  true — true,  too,  in  just  the  way  he  said  it. 
He  was  the  man  to  chase  wrong  clear  around  the  world 
and  then  clear  off  it.  But  right — well,  right  knew  him 
for  a  friend. 

But  the  thing  got  out.  There  are  tongues  that  have 
no  business  but  bad  business.  They  work  a  thousand 
times  harder  than  the  tongues  that  praise.  And  so  the 
police  got  astir.  The  police  befriended  the  reporters, 
and  then  the  editors  began  to  palaver  justice.     And  all 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  55 

the  time  the  only  person  that  knew  anything  about  the 
case  was  the  President,  and  he  was  out  trying  to  baffle 
the  whole  crowd.  He  engaged  the-smartest  detectives 
in  town  and  said  to  them:  "Go  find  that  young  man. 
When  you've  found  him  take  him  in  my  name,  and  tell 
him  to  trust  me  as  he  always  did.  Put  him  some  place 
where  he  can't  be  got  at.  Don't  bother  him -with  ques- 
tions and  don't  let  anyone  else.  But  make  no  record, 
and,  beyond  all,  no  charge.  And  don't  break  his  heart 
by  letting  him  think  he's  under  arrest." 

The  men  went.  But  remorse  beat  them.  The  cashier 
had  given  himself  up  at  a-  police  station  just  before  the 
detectives  arrived  there  in  their  quest.  They  succeeded 
in  carrying  out  the  rest  of  their  instructions. 

The  President  made  haste  to  the  station,  re-estab- 
lished relations  with  the  boy,  and  obtained  a  clean  breast 
from  him.  They  had  got  from  him,  in  the  first  place,  all 
he  had,  the  $2,500  it  had  taken  him  twelve  years  to  save. 
Then  he  saw  how  easy  it  would  be  to  get  that  back  with 
the  money  he  had  on  hand  as  executor  of  a  young  girl's 
estate.  The  $1,800  he  had  in  his  safety  deposit  box 
belonging  to  a  fellow  clerk  would  surely  fetch  both  back. 
There  was  so  much  now  out  that  nothing  but  the  com- 
pany's $5,150  would  ever  save  him  and  the  girl  and  the 
clerk.  And  then,  the  awakening;  with  no  iiope  left. 
He  wanted  to  go  right  away  to  the  penitentiary,  where  he 
would  never  again  see  any  people  but  people  like  him- 
self, so  he  could  look  in  someone's  face.  He  couldn't 
live  unless  he  could  look  human  beings  in  the  face,  and 
outside  Joliet  there  was  no  hope  for  him. 

Newspapers  can  create  a  public  appetite.  This  appe- 
tite then  must  be  satisfied,  and  the  creators  of  the  taste 


56  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

must  furnish  the  victim  to  be  devoured.  They  are  bound 
to  care  for  their  own  progeny.  Who  is  eaten  is  another 
question.  So  it  came  that  there  was  a  public  demand 
for  the  destruction  of  the  clerk.  The  demand  began  to 
*  press  upon  the  Directors,  and  they  commenced  exertion 
upon  the  President.  He  told  them  of  the  whirl  that  took 
the  clerk  off  his  feet.  He  had  been  firmly  on  his  feet 
for  twenty-two  years,  and  was  now  on  them,  and  no  doubt 
would  remain  erect  the  balance  of  his  life  unless  the  law 
threw  him  down.  He  had  lost  his  footing  for  only  a  few 
days.  He  was  dizzy  when  he  went  down;  couldn't  see 
straight.  He  had  been  whirled.  There  had  been  a 
woman,  capable  of  blinding  the  moral'sight  like  Eve  did 
with  the  apple  on  Adam;  and  men  adept  in  the  art  of 
hypnotizing.  These  people  had  succeeded  in  creating  a 
period  of  moral  unconsciousness  in  the  life  of  the  clerk, 
a  period  during  which  he  had  to  do  what  they  wanted  him 
to  do,  and  was  not  responsible.  The  Directors  all  thought 
this,  too,  at  first;  but  then  the  press  was  making 
demands  and  so  was  the  public,  and  it  wouldn't  do  for 
men  conducting  great  business  affairs  to  ignore  what 
the  public  demanded.  They  were  inclined,  therefore,  to 
insist  upon  the  President  doing  his  duty  in  response  to 
public  sentiment,  and  having  an  indictment  duly 
brought. 

The  President  saw  the  point,  the  point  of  sensibility 
in  the  directory.  The  clerk  had  been  the^most  popular 
man  in  the  company's  service  with  all  the  builders  and 
contractors  in  the  city  and  for  miles  around  who  were  in 
the  habit  of  coming  to  the  office  to  buy  and  settle  for 
building  stone.  Scores  of  them  .had  been  in  to  ask  about 
his  fate. 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  57 

"It  is  left. in  my  hands, "  said  the  President,  "with 
instructions  to  prosecute. " 

"And  can't  the  order  be  changed?" 

"Not  as  long  as  the  public  demand  calls  for  justice. 
The  Directors  sympathize  with  the  boy  but  are  influ- 
enced entirely  in  their  decision  to  turn  him  over  to  the 
law  by  the  public  demand." 

"Public  demand!  There's  nothing  in  that.  You 
can't  lay  your  finger  on  it.  Suppose  there  was  a  public 
demand  that  had  people  in  it,  men  you  knew  and  could 
calLby  name.  What  effect  would  that  have  upon  the 
Directors?" 

"It  would  be  hard  to  tell  until  it  appeared  and  tried 
to  do  something." 

"Well,  we'll  see." 

Then  a  great  petition  asking  the  President  of  the 
Western  Stone  Company  to  refrain  from  prosecuting  the 
cashier,  who  had  attracted  and  retained  so  many  cus- 
tomers, etc.,  etc.,  was  circulated  for  signatures.  It  came 
back  with  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  autographs,  with 
the  name  of  nearly  every  man  and  every  firm  that  had 
ever  done  any  building,  paving,  or  construction  work  in, 
or  anywhere  near,  the  city  of  Chicago  for  many  years 
past.  When  the  Board  got  that  it  called  in  the  President 
and  said:  "There  has  been  a  great  change  in  public 
opinion.  Just  look  at  these  names.  It  appears  that  the 
public  is  now  almost  unanimous  in  the  opinion  that  the 
company  should  not  prosecute  the  case  against  the 
cashier.  Mr.  President,  you  need  not  carry  the  case  any 
further." 

And  so  a  carriage  went  round  by  a  back  way,  to  avoid 
reporters,  and  took   the  clerk  to  the  President's  house, 


58  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

where  his  wife  had  assembled  many  of  the  young  man's 
relatives,  and  he  was  turned  over  free  to  them  and  went 
home  with  them. 

He  is  a  rising  man  in  the  world  now  and  fills  a 
responsible  position,  and  every  week  redeems  part  of  his 
debt.  He  has  a  bright,  sound  future.  And  nobody  tells 
this  story  as  often  as  he  does,  since  the  newspapers  made 
it  public,  and  no  one  else  tells  it  so  well.  He  relates  it 
that  the  real  truth  may  be  circulated  to  overtake  and 
destroy  the  lies,  as  well  as  to  induce  young  men  to  abso- 
lutely avoid  having  any  financial  dealings  whatsoever 
with  any  people  in  this  world  who  are  engaged  in  callings 
not  entirely  respectable  as  well  as  legitimate. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


ENTEkS   PUBLIC    LIFE— THE    NOVICE    AMONG   ALDERMEN— A    LUCKY 

MISTAKE. 


IT  was  inevitable  that  a  man  whose  career  had  been  so 
conspicuously  valuable  to  all  who  had  entrusted  him 
with  the  care  of  their  interests  should  be  called  upon  to 
assume  some  public  duty  in  a  community  like  that  of 
Chicago.  The  city  was  commencing  to  attract  the  atten- 
tion of  the  world  as  a  possible  metropolis.  Its  expansion 
was  certain  and  was  already  being  determined  by  events. 
Mr.  Madden  had  lived  in  the  locality  known  for  a  long 
time  as  the  Fourth  Ward  for  about  seventeen  years. 
The  district  was  proud  of  him  as  a  resident  and  referred 
to  him  as  one  of  its  principal  examples  of  Chicago  ability 
and  enterprise. 

A  deserving  young  man  one  day  called  upon  him  and 
asked  him  for  a  letter  of  recommendation  for  a  political 
clerkship  at  the  disposal  of  the  representative  of  that  part 
of  the  ward  in  the  City  Council.  Mr.  Madden  knew  noth- 
ing about  the  methods  of  handling  patronage,  nor  any- 
thing respecting  the  processes  of  politicians.  The  appli- 
cant was  fully  competent  and  the  letter  was  given.  Not 
long  afterwards  the  recipient  called  again,  said  the  recom- 
mendation had  not  been  effective,  and  requested  Mr. 
Madden  to  personally  say  a  good  word  to  the  local  dis- 
penser of  offices.  He  went  to  the  trouble  of  doing  this, 
got  a  promise  he  deemed  satisfactory,  and  supposed  the 

59 


60  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

affair  to  be  then  settled.  In  a  week  or  so  the  young  man 
called  again  and  reported  that  he  was  still  unemployed. 
Surprised,  Madden  made  another  trip  and  obtained  more 
positive  assurances.  But  the  applicant  continued  idle. 
Then  Madden  went  to  headquarters  to  learn  why  such 
shuttling  was  carried  on.  He  was  amazed  at  the  dis- 
covery that  the  representative  who  had  made  him  so 
much  trouble  was  really  unable  to  do  anything  in  the 
case.  He  had  agreed  to  let  a  political  organization  which 
had  assisted  in  his  election  control  the  appointments 
belonging  to  his  district,  and  as  this  organization  had  no 
interest  in  the  ward  the  places  properly  belonging  to  its 
quota  had  been  filled  by  people  living  elsewhere.  The 
unfairness  and  the  dilatory  character  of  the  whole  pro- 
ceeding aroused  Madden's  sense  of  justice.  He  criticized 
the  policy  in  vogue  in  a  style  that  caused  the  most  indus- 
trious quotation  and  comment. 

This  attracted  political  attention  to  him  for  the  first 
time.  His  stand  was  so  manly,  straightforward  and  pop- 
ular that  requests  began  to  reach  him  urging  him  to 
accept  a  nomination  to  the  City  Council  as  one  of  the 
representatives  of  the  ward.  At  last  these  requests  were 
combined  Into  a  great  petition  signed  by  3,000  voters, 
one-half  of  the  total  number  entitled  to  suffrage  in  the 
division.  He  accepted  the  nomination,  equivalent,  as  he 
thought,  to  a  demand  and  election,  and  in  April,  1889, 
went  sent  by  a  plurality  of  106  votes  to  represent  the 
Fourth  Ward  in  the  Board  of  Aldermen. 

So  little  did  he  then  know  about  what  is  called  prac- 
tical politics,  notwithstanding  his  broad  and  deep  educa- 
tion regarding  public  affairs  and  principles,  that  when  he 
went  to  take  his  seat  in  the  city  legislature  he  entered 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  61 

the  city  hall  for  the  first  time,  and  when  the  session 
opened  he  saw  for  the  first  time  a  political  branch  of  the 
government  in  operation. 

He  had  always  been  a  Republican  and  as  such  had 
been  elected.  But  he  was  looked  upon  as  so  unsophisti- 
cated politically  by  the  managing  members  of  his  party 
in  the  Board  that  when  the  committees  were  formed  for 
the  session's  work,  the  new  member  from  the  Fourth  was 
assigned  to  that  on  Wharves  and  Public  Grounds.  The 
wharves  were  fixtures  requiring  little  legislative  atten- 
tion and  the  public  grounds  were  then  of  so  little  impor- 
tance that  putting  a  member  on  that  committee  was 
something  like  sending  him  abroad  to  get  rid  of  him. 
The  new  member,  however,  did  not  know  this,  nor  did  he 
even  suspect  it.  He  took  it  for  granted  that  he  was  made 
a  committeeman  to  work.  He  studied  the  duties  of  his 
new  position.  When  he  knew  what  they  were,  he  saw 
that  there  was  a  great  deal  to  be  done  by  his  committee, 
although  it  had  not  had  much  to  attend  to  for  a  long 
time.  Its  work  had  been  so  long  appropriated  by  other 
committees,  which  by  usage  had  obtained  title  to  it  and 
regular  reference  of  it,  that  the  one  on  Wharves  and  Pub- 
lic Grounds  for  many  sessions  had  seldom  been  heard  of, 
except  in  the  list  when  some  new  member  in  the  Board 
was  banished  into  it.  It  was  not  long  before  the  legisla- 
ture was  regularly  treated  to  surprises.  Every  time  any- 
thing properly  belonging  to  the  work  Madden's  commit- 
tee was  originally  created  to  do  was  on  the  point  of  being 
referred  elsewhere,  he  arose  and  corrected  the  proceed- 
ing and  had  the  task  sent  where  it  should  be  attended 
to.  It  seemed  extraordinary  at  first  that  any  man  in  the 
Council  should  actually  hunt  for  work,  as  the  " green" 


62  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

member  seemed  to  be  doing.  The  older  sitters  thought 
he  would  4t get  over  it ;"  but  he  did  not.  He  kept  on 
until  his  committee  was  before  the  house  oftener  than 
any  other,  and  until  the  whole  body  was  fully  educated  as 
to  its  prerogatives,  and  all  attempt  to  encroach  upon 
them  was  abandoned.  By  that  time  the  annexation 
movement,  which  more  than  quadrupled  the  city's  terri- 
tory, caused  the  creation  of  new  divisions,  and  brought 
the  addition  of  immense  park  areas,  had  made  of  the 
ignored  committee  the  most  desirable,  if  not  the  most 
important,  in  the  legislature,  and  all  the  members  were 
desirous  of  getting  into  it.  The  "greenhorn"  from  the 
Fourth  was,  however,  as  a  fellow-member  expressed  it, 
now  "at  the  head  of  the  procession."  He  had  attained 
his  position  simply  by  attending  to  the  business  to 
which  he  had  been  assigned.  In  the  work  he  had  dis- 
played such  intelligence,  business  ability  and  capacity 
for  "getting  things  through"  that  there  was  not  the  sug- 
gestion of  an  effort  to  either  supersede  him  or  to  inter- 
fere with  him.  He  was  recognized  as  a  great  addition 
to  the  Board,  and  his  ward  commenced  to  gain  influence 
in  municipal  legislation. 

At  the  first  meeting  of  the  Republican  members  of  the 
Council  after  the  appointment  of  the  committees  Madden 
moved  the  adoption  of  a  resolution  pledging  the  mem- 
bers to  unity  of  action  in  all  matters  respecting  the  city's 
welfare.  He  showed  that  some  such  action  was  neces- 
sary. The  party  was  in  a  minority  in  the  Board.  If  its 
vote  always  appeared  solid  in  favor  of  good  legislation 
and  against  bad,  it  would  retard  the  latter  and  help  the 
former,  and  besides  create  a  public  opinion  that  would 
surely  increase  the  party  representation  in  future  Coun- 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  63 

cils.  This  motion  was  greeted  with  surprise  and  pleas- 
ure. It  was  adopted.  It  drew  attention  to  the  mover 
and  made  him  popular  at  once  with  his  party  associ- 
ates. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


PUBLIC   SERVICE   BEGINS— THE   CHICAGO  PROBLEM— THE   SOLUTION 
UNDERTAKEN. 


IN  the  June  following  Madden's  sudden  advent  into  the 
public  life  of  Chicago,  the  great  annexation  movement 
that  had  been  agitating  the  community  for  a  long  time 
culminated  in  the  addition  to  the  city  of  all  the  region 
of  Hyde  Park,  all  of  the  town  of  Lake,  all  of  Jefferson 
township,  all  of  that  of  Lake  View,  and  part  of  Calumet 
and  Cicero  townships.  Never  before  was  effected  a 
municipal  enlargement  so  stupendous  in  the  difficulties  it 
involved.  When  London  expanded  it  simply  took  under 
one  municipal  government  all  the  finished,  contiguous 
and  long  adjusted  parts  of  one  great  town.  When 
Greater  New  York  was  formed  the  act  of  consolidation 
simply  abolished  separate  local  governments  in  the 
different  parts  of  a  community  that  had  long  been  hom- 
ogeneous. 

It  was  altogether  different  in  Chicago.  The  old  city 
was  compact,  well  built,  well  developed,  and  well  gov- 
erned. It  contained  but  thirty-seven  square  miles  of 
territory.  The  occupied  streets  were  graded,  paved, 
watered,  sewered  and  lighted.  The  transportation  sys- 
tem was  sufficient.  The  town  was  rectangular,  long  and 
narrow,  running  north  and  south  along  Lake  Michigan. 
The  tramways  ran  from  the  northern  boundary  to  the 
southern  in  thoroughfares  a  few  blocks  apart  and  suffi- 
ciently accommodated  the  people.     Hardly  a  cross-town 

64 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  65 

line  existed.  There  had  not  been  travel  enough  back 
and  forth  across  the  narrow  city  to  call  into  existence 
tramways  for  its  accommodation.  The  police,  fire  and 
water  service  were  more  than  ample.  The  water  revenue 
had  a  surplus  in  the  treasury  of  $800,000. 

All  at  once  the  town's  area  was  increased  from  thirty- 
seven  square  miles  to  186.  One  hundred  and  forty-nine 
square  miles,  more  than  four  times  the  size  of  the  old 
cit}%  was  added  at  a  stroke.  This  new  territory  was 
practically  rural  or  farm  land.  Little  of  it  was  improved 
in  an  urban  sense.  So  keen  was  the  sense  of  speculation 
on  the  part  of  most  of  the  owners  of  all  this  farm  land 
that  the  act  of  consolidation  inspired  them  to  at  once 
have  it  staked  off  into  city  lots.  So  large,  white  and 
dense  were  these  stakes,  that  to  travelers  the  city  looked 
for  a  long  time  as  if  surrounded  by  old-fashioned  country 
graveyards.  There  were  few  gradings,  fewer  pavements, 
hardly  any  sidewalks,  no  lights,  no  police,  no  fire  system, 
no  water  mains,  no  sewerage.  Here  were  149  square 
miles  thrown  all  at  once  upon  a  rather  small,  well  organ- 
ized city,  to  sewer,  water,  light,  grade,  police  and  govern. 
The  new  population  wanted  to  be  metropolitanized 
immediately.  It  was  given  full  representation  in  the 
city  legislature  and  it  simply  raised  municipal  pande- 
monium over  every  postponement  of  the  miraculous. 

Thousands  of  smart,  unscrupulous  men  rushed  into  the 
territory,  picked  up  bargains  in  unimproved  land,  sur 
veyed  and  divided  it  into  lots,  put  them  on  the  market, 
with  guaranteed  improvements,  at  high  prices,  and  then 
fell  upon  the  Council  with  every  art  influence,  scheme 
and  corrupt  proposition  deemed  necessary  to  loot  the  cor- 
poration and  assist  their  speculations. 

6 


66  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

Hundreds  of  farmers'  sons  became  ambitious  to  be 
policemen  or  firemen.  Their  parents,  now  city  tax- 
payers, revenged  themselves  upon  the  men  in  town  who 
stood  in  their  way. 

The  old  laws  set  aside  for  sewerage  purposes  two  mills 
on  the  total  assessed  valuation.  Water  mains  were  laid 
and  connected  by  a  plan  that  had  always  met  every 
demand.  When  there  were  enough  houses  on  a  street  to 
be  mained  to  yield  an  annual  water  tax  of  ten  cents  a. 
lineal  foot,  the  water  was  put  in;  where  there  were  not 
enough  to  do  that  it  was  furnished  at  the  expense  of  the 
property  owners  along  the  way,  who  received  certificates 
for  the  excess  taxation.  These  entitled  the  holders  to 
rebates,  as  soon  as  the  receipts  along  the  improvement 
yielded  the  money.  When  it  came  to  draining  farms, 
however,  the  case  was  disastrously  different.  It  would 
have  cost  $350,000  to  lay  the  first  main  sewer  in  the  town 
of  Jefferson,  to  say  nothing  of  laterals.  The  assessed 
valuation  of  the  town  at  the  city  rate  would  not  have 
yielded  enough  to  lay  that  one  drain  in  seventy  years. 

Street  improvements,  which  included  watering, 
sewering,  grading,  and  paving  were  obtained  by  ordi- 
nance secured  by  petition.  The  speculators  who  planned 
to  have  their  far-out  lands  equipped  with  water  would 
obtain  the  ordinance  for  general  improvement  in  the 
regular  way,  then,  when  the  water  mains  were  in  and 
connected,  they  would  secure  the  passage  of  another 
ordinance  repealing  the  first,  in  this  way  getting  water 
and  escaping  the  costs  of  other  improvements. 

There  were  few  railroad  facilities  in  any  of  the 
annexed  territory.  Where  any  existed  they  cost  the 
passengers  extra  fares.     These  new  tax-payers  demanded 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  67 

extension  of  the  car  lines  until  they  should  cover  both  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  city,  and  that  the  companies 
should  carry  passengers  for  single  fares  with  universal 
transfers.  The  car  companies  had  got  their  franchises 
for  twenty  years  in  1883,  and  in  1889,  the  period  of 
annexation,  were  in  a  rather  independent  position. 

It  was  not  long  before  it  was  realized  that  the  city 
was  being  rushed  straight  into  bankruptcy.  The  water 
fund  had  lost  its  $800,000  surplus,  and  the  department 
was  $1,500,000  in  debt.  All  the  departments  were  over- 
strained with  work  and  being  rapidly  submerged  in 
excessive  expenditures  No  inhabited  territory  in  the 
world  had  so  many  miles  of  steam  railway  in  busy  opera- 
tion. Several  hundred  people  were  killed  every  year  at 
the  crossings.  These  were  in  the  city  now,  and  the  cor- 
poration was  more  easily  reached  in  the  courts  than  the 
companies  could  be.  Damage  suits  for  millions  were 
piled  up  and  clogged  the  courts. 

It  looked  as  if  the  pawnbrokers  of  the  world  would 
get  Chicago.  It  was  the  largest  city  on  the  globe  in 
area,  trying  to  carry  on  a  metropolitan  business  on  a 
village  plan.  It  was  a  metropolis  twenty-five  miles  long 
by  fourteen  miles  wide  attempting  to  parade  in  swell 
dress  in  the  yardage  that  clothed  it  when  it  was  eight  by 
four. 

Incredible  as  it  now  seems,  it  is  a  fact  that  few  of  the 
dangers  thrust  upon  the  giant  young  city  had  been  fore- 
seen or  arranged  for  in  the  terms  of  annexation.  The 
people  appeared  intoxicated  with  the  greatness  of  Chi- 
cago's opportunities  and  they  grasped  at  bigness  with  a 
kind  of  fury  of  strength.  They  were  confident,  of  pos- 
sessing full  ability  to  meet  and  solve  any  problem  that 


W  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

sudden  greatness  might  put  upon  them.  They  made 
no  preparation  for  the  titanic  struggle,  and  unequipped 
they  met  it  without  a  shirk.  Such  a  risk  was  never 
before  taken  by  any  population  since  men  began  to  live 
in  communities. 

Looking  back  over  the  life  of  Chicago  it  must  strike 
the  historian  that  its  people  are  the  best  poised  and  most 
courageous  of  all  the  assemblages  of  men.  They  are  the 
indomitables  of  the  race,  and  they  are  capable  of  any- 
thing the  progress  of  civilization  makes  possible  in  civic r 
life. 

No  other  local  legislature  that  ever  existed  had  such 
unparalleled  difficulties  to  meet  as  were  pressed  upon  the 
Board  of  Aldermen  of  Chicago  from  the  period  of  annex- 
ation in  June,  1889,  until  the  formative  period  of  the 
city's  marvelous  growth  was  passed  in  1897;  and  no 
other  law-making  body  ever  acquitted  itself  of  its  task  so 
creditably,  all  things  considered,  as  did  this  body.  No 
other  had  such  abuse  and  misunderstanding  to  contend 
against,  and  no  other  deserved  them  less. 

The  Alderman  from  the  Fourth  Ward  had  innocently 
precipitated  himself  into  the  forefront  of  the  struggle  by 
building  up  work  for  his  obscure  Committee  on  Wharves 
and  Public  Grounds.  The  annexations  had  made  the 
committee  properly  the  one  of  first  importance  at  the 
start.  Madden  being  a  sound  lawyer  by  education  and 
commercial  experience,  soon  found  himself  a  directing 
power  in  the  legislature's  work  of  assimilation.  His 
experience  in  handling  men  of  all  nationalities,  as  well 
as  his  ability  to  meet  people  of  financial  power,  enabled 
him  to  avert  danger  by  judicious  compromise.  His 
insight  and  power  of  statement  made  it  easy  for  him  to 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  69 

clear  the  disputes  of  irrelevant  matters  and  bring  the 
essential  things  into  the  clear  view  of  all.  His  character 
rapidly  won  general  confidence  and  concentrated  atten- 
tion upon  whatever  he  espoused.  The  colleagues  of  his 
own  party  rallied  about  him  as  a  safe  leader,  and  those 
of  the  opposition  gradually  abandoned  all  attempts  to 
meet  him  on  anything  but  the  real  merits  of  the  ques- 
tion. The  presence  and  activity  of  such  a  man  in  a  leg- 
islative body  always  results  in  that  kind  of  public  econ- 
omy which  prevents  wasteful  discussion.  Matters  have 
to  come  to  a  head,  as  it  wer^  when  he  is  around  on 
business  intent. 

The  ways  and  means  of  getting  revenue  for  the  city 
began  to  assume  first  importance  in  the  Council's  legis- 
lative work  soon  after  the  shock  of  the  first  .raids  upon 
the  treasury  brought  the  seriousness  of  the  gigantic 
expansion  home  to  the  municipal  powers.  The  Finance 
Committee  of  the  Council,  which  had  always  had  control 
of  the  methods  of  raising  and  disbursing  the  public  funds, 
had  never  been  much  in  the  public  eye  before  annexa- 
tion, because  of  the  practically  automatic  character  of 
the  city's  income  and  outgo.  But  now  the  income  was  a 
problematical  matter,  while  the  only  thing  that  could 
be  relied  on  respecting  the  expenditures  was  that  they 
would  constantly  tend  to  be  both  incalculable  and  ruin- 
ous. Financial  talent  became  indispensable  on  the  com- 
mittee, and  it  was  sought.  The  business  career  of  the 
member  from  the  Fourth  was  known  to  every  well- 
informed  citizen,  and  his  financial  skill  was  one  of  the 
town's  boasts.  He  was  pressed  by  his  party  colleagues 
to  go  on  the  Finance  Committee;  not  only  as  a  member 
of  it,  but  as  its  Chairman.       There  was  no  difference  of 


70  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

opinion  among  them  as  to  his  superior  qualifications  for 
the  place.  His  political  opponents  conceded  that  he  was 
the  best  man  in  the  Board  for  the  finance  chairmanship, 
but,  having  a  majority  in  the  body,  they  made  a  party 
question  of  it  and  voted  against  giving  him  the  office 
when  he  was  proposed  for  it.  The  result  was  that  he 
was  put  on  the  Finance  Committee  to  do  the  work  every 
one  said  he  could  do  better  than  anyone  else,  but  by 
party  influence  he  was  prevented  from  having  his  own 
way  there.  He  became  a  member  of  the  committee  in 
his  second  council  manic  year.  After  serving  two  years 
on  this  committee,  in  1893  he  was  made  Chairman  by 
the  unanimous  vote  of  the  whole  Council,  which  as  a  body 
always  elected  that  officer.  He  was  Chairman  five  years, 
the  longest  period  the  office  has  ever  been  held  by  one 
man  in  the  history  of  the  city. 

It  did  not  seem  to  make  any  difference  to  Madden 
whether  he  was  at  the  head  of  a  committee  or  at  the  tail 
of  it.  so  long  as  there  was  any  work  to  be  done.  He 
never  cared  much  for  what  is  called  credit  for  doing 
things.  If  they  were  to  be  done,  he  simply  did  them. 
He  had  such  a  capacity  for  accomplishing  results  that 
wherever  he  was  in  a  working  body,  especially  one  that 
had  financiering  to  do,  he  was  practically  the  body, 
whether  he  was  called  the  one  end  or  the  other  or  the 
middle. 

One  of  the  first  things  Mr.  Madden  set  about  rectify- 
ing was  the  facility  the  old  laws  afforded  speculators  of 
acquiring  improvement  of  their  outlying  lands  at  public 
expense.  This  was  accomplished  by  throwing  the  bur- 
den of  the  cost  entirely  on  the  property  benefited.  If 
the  land  was  worth   improving,   he  contended,  it  should 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  71 

be  made  to  bear  the  cost.  An  ordinance  was  framed 
enacting  that  public  improvements  might  be  obtained 
by  petition ;  but  that  when  ordered  the  property  bene- 
fited should  be  assessed  the  full  cost  of  the  changes,  and 
that  this  sum,  plus  an  extra  charge  for  surveying  and 
other  incidental  expenses,  should  be  paid  into  the  city 
treasury  before  any  of  the  work  would  be  done.  When 
the  city  had  in  hand  all  the  money  that  its  officials  should 
assess  for  the  contemplated  improvements,  it  would 
have  the  work  done  under  a  uniform  public  system  of 
its  own,  and  when  through  it  would  rebate  to  the  prop- 
erty owners  any  surplus  left.  This  would,  by  applying 
a  general  system  of  work,  cost  the  property  owners  less 
than  individual  effort,  and  would  secure  uniformity  in 
the  city's  development.  The  plan  gave  due  publicity 
and  opportunity  for  appeal  and  rectification,  and  con- 
served all  but  dishonest  interests.  It  was  bitterly 
opposed  by  open  and  secret  attack,  but  it  was  carried 
through.  It  kept  down  unnecessary  and  unhealthy,  as 
well  as  criminal,  exploitation  and  gave  the  municipality 
proper  control  of  its  own  growth.  Each  man's  taxes  for 
improvements  were  spent  on  his  own  land.  The  excess 
in  the  assessments  enabled  the  city  to  have  money  on 
hand  to  include  the  square  pieces  of  streets  at  intersec- 
tions when  the  ordained  improvements  ran  from  one 
block  to  another,  as  they  often  did.  How  important  this 
was  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  under  this  ordi- 
nance the  people  of  Chicago  afterwards  built  as  much  as 
150  miles  of  streets,  150  miles  of  sewers,  150  miles  of 
water  mains,  and  sixty  miles  of  buildings  in  a  single  year. 
The  town  was  growing  during  the  period  of  this  improve- 
ment at  the  rate  of  10.000  inhabitants  every  month. 


72  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

The  task  of  putting  an  end  to  railway  manslaughter 
at  the  grade  crossings  was  mainly  left  to  the  Fourth's 
representative.  He  from  the  first  advocated  the  enforced 
elevation  of  all  steam  railway  tracks  throughout  the 
entire  city.  Within  the  corporate  limits  there  were  sev- 
eral hundred  miles  of  these  tracks,  and  it  was  thought 
impossible  to  ever  force  the  costly  elevation  of  so  much 
busily  engaged  trackage.  It  would  be  cheaper  for  the 
railroad  companies  to  pay  damages  for  deaths  at  any 
figure  than  endure  the  expense  of  some  hundreds  of  mil- 
lions of  dollars  for  raising  their  roadbeds.  Madden 
thought  differently,  and  persistently  agitated  track  eleva- 
tion as  not  only  politic  but  right  in  itself.  Finally,  early 
in  1892,  he  secured  the  appointment  of  a  commission  to 
investigate  the  subject  and  report  to  the  Council  the  best 
method  of  solving  the  question.  He  was  put  on  this 
committee  and  by  it  elected  Chairman.  The  body  visited 
all  the  cities  in  the  East  which  had  brought  about  track 
elevation.  It  studied  the  whole  subject  more  thoroughly 
than  it  had  yet  been  investigated.  It  found  that  in 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  and  in  the  state  of  New  Jersey,  the 
localities  containing  the  most  mileage  of  elevated  steam 
roads,  the  companies  had  defrayed  one-half  the  cost  of 
elevation  and  the  tax-payers  the  other,  the  damages  to 
abutting  property  being  met  equally  by  each.  The  com- 
mittee on  its  return  concluded  to  report  in  favor  of  com- 
pulsory elevation.  In  justice  to  the  roads,  however,  the 
members  agreed  to  confer  with  their  officials  to  avoid 
injustice.  The  controversy  at  this  stage  was  largely  left 
to  Madden.  He  lost  no  time  in  impressing  upon  the 
companies  the  determination  of  the  Council  to  compel 
elevation,  and  the  necessity  of  reaching  some  understand- 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  73 

ing.  It  was  pointed  out  that  the  city  could  interrupt 
traffic  at  every  street  crossing  and  make  it  absolutely 
impossible  for  the  companies  to  transact  business;  and 
that  it  would  resort  to  the  use  of  this  and  every  one  of 
its  other  rights  to  force  the  raising  of  the  roads  and  put 
an  end  to  the  destruction  of  human  life  in  the  streets. 

When  the  railway  powers  realized  that  further  parley 
was  useless  and  agreed  to  discussion,  Madden,  who  was 
as  good  a  business  man  as  any  of  them,  soon  convinced 
them  that  in  the  long  run  it  would  pay  the  roads  to  ele- 
vate and  do  it  at  once,  not  only  in  the  saving  of  litiga- 
tion, the  payment  of  damages,  and  the  injuries  from 
public  hostility,  but  also  in  the  vastly  increased  business 
that  could  be  done  on  the  same  mileage  with  tracks  in 
the  air,  entirely  free  from  cross  traffic  and  all  the 
obstructions  and  dangers  to  be  encountered  on  the  sur- 
face of  a  busy  commercial  city  twenty-five  miles  long  and 
fourteen  miles  broad.  The  principal  companies  were 
brought  over  by  his  facts  and  reasoning,  and  he  prepared, 
with  their  consent,  and  submitted  to  the  Council  and 
induced  it  to  pass,  the  most  extraordinary  ordinance  of 
the  kind  ever  attempted  in  this  country.  It  made  the 
raising  of  the  tracks  throughout  the  city  mandatory  upon 
the  companies;  put  the  entire  expense  on  them,  and 
made  them  subject  for  all  damages  to  abutting  property. 
The  latter  he  got  the  companies  to  agree  to  by  pointing 
out  that  juries  would  give  verdicts  that  way  anyhow. 

Under  this  ordinance  upwards  of  $50,000,000  has 
already  been  spent  in  the  work  of  track  elevation  in  Chi- 
cago, and  under  it  there  is  assured  the  utter  abolition  of 
every  grade  crossing  in  the  town. 

The  street  paving  question  was  left  entirely  by  the 


"74  MARTIN   B.  MADDEN 

Board  of  Aldermen  in  Mr.  Madden's  hands.  How  he  ever 
obtained  the  time  to  master  this  problem  in  the  way  he 
did  can  only  be  surmised  by  attributing  it  to  some  kind 
of  prodigious  genius  for  work.  He  visited  the  cities  in 
America  and  Europe  noted  for  the  qualities  of  their  pave- 
ments, and  carried  on  a  correspondence  with  street  engi- 
neers of  special  experience  and  authority  all  over  the 
world.  As  a  result  of  all  this  labor  he  prepared  a  pam- 
phlet on  street  paving.  It  contained  all  the  information 
in  existence  upon  the  subject,  with  such  profound  and 
valuable  suggestions  by  the  author  that  when  it  was 
handed  in  to  the  Board  in  his  report,  10,000  copies  were  at 
once  ordered  printed  for  general  circulation.  The  book 
rapidly  gained  such  a  reputation  that  it  is  yet  used  as  a 
text  authority  in  both  European  and  American  institu- 
tions wherein  civil  engineering  is  taught. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    CRY   OF   "BOODLE" — THE    CAUSE    OF   IT — WHO   USE   IT. 


IN  the  new  city  there  were  5,600  miles  of  streets  and 
alleys  on  the  map.  The  extension  of  those  in  the  old 
town  called  for  this  great  mileage  of  thoroughfare.  The 
transportation  of  the  populace  became  at  once  the  most 
pressing  of  the  work  thrust  upon  the  legislature.  The 
tramway  lines  in  existence  were  nearly  all  served  by 
horse-power,  and  few  of  them  reached  into  the  annexed 
territory.  It  was  necessary  to  find  means  of  inducing  the 
car  companies  to  build  their  lines  to  the  northern  and 
southern  ends  of  the  whole  city,  to  introduce  new  parallel 
routes  where  the  existing  lines  were  too  far  apart,  and  to 
make  cross-town  connections  at  convenient  distances. 
The  people  demanded  single  fares  and  universal  trans- 
fers. Investigation  showed  that  while  the  trunk  lines, 
that  is,  those  north  and  south,  might  afford  transfer  fares, 
few  cross-town,  or  feeder,  lines  could.  If  such  fares 
were  made  the  condition  for  obtaining  franchises  for  the 
east  and  west  lines,  therefore,  it  would  be  impossible  to 
procure  their  construction  by  independent  companies. 
Manifestly,  the  solution  was  in  franchising  the  trunk  line 
companies  to  make  the  connections  as  well  as  the  exten- 
sions and  to  permit  the  fare  question  to  remain  in  abey- 
ance. That  method  was  adopted.  Even  under  the 
arrangement  it  was  difficult  to  procure  the  rapid  building 

75 


76  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

of  roads  into  the  long  stretches  of  thinly  inhabited  terri- 
tory. 

About  this  time  the  introduction  of  the  cable  and 
electric  trolley  methods  of  street  car  propulsion  was 
being  agitated  in  the  larger  cities.  In  this  the  Aldermen 
found  a  means  of  solving  the  entire  transportation  diffi- 
culty. Franchises  for  the  substitution  of  cable  or  electric 
power  for  that  of  horses  were  bestowed'  in  consideration 
of  the  necessary  extensions  or  new  constructions,  and  in 
this  way  the  city  secured  the  rapid  development  of  the 
street  car  service  it  now  has,  justly  claimed  to  be  the 
most  extensive  and  convenient  in  the  world. 

When  the  surface  service  began  to  prove  inadequate, 
elevated  railway  companies  were  invited  to  come  to  the 
rescue.  They  soon,  as  a  matter  of  economy,  abandoned 
steam  for  electric  service.  Hence,  Chicago  streets  are 
free  from  the  noise,  dirt  and  general  old-fashioned  ugli- 
ness of  the  little  racking  steam  motors  that  are  still 
trying  to  do  business  on  the  elevated  railways  of  New 
York  City. 

While  the  population  gladly  availed  itself  of  every 
improvement  in  the  transportation  system,  it  seemed 
ever  ready  to  assume  or  believe  that  each  step  in  the 
progress  was  obtained  by  corrupt  means.  Seldom  was 
any  grant  made  to  a  street  car  company  that  a  cry  of 
"boodle"  did  not  accompany  it.  Perhaps  in  no  city  of 
recent  growth  has  there  been  less  corruption  than  in 
Chicago  in  the  work  of  developing  street  car  service. 

Nevertheless,  nearly  every  Alderman  who  had  the 
courage  to  stimulate  the  investment  of  capital  in  the  big 
town's  street  car  lines,  either  by  voting  an  extension  of 
franchises,  additions  to  them,  or  new  charters,  had  to 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  77 

face  open  or  covered  attacks  upon  his  conduct.  Matters 
grew  so  very  bad  in  this  habit  of  reckless  abuse  of  the 
city's  public  servants,  that  men  on  assuming  the  duties 
of  an  aldermanic  career  were  often  compelled  to  start  out 
with  a  firm  resolution  to  wholly  ignore  the  criticisms  of 
the  press.  In  this  way  the  newspapers  frequently  lost 
their  power  altogether.  If  people  would  not  believe 
what  they  said  about  good  men,  what  they  said  about 
wicked  servants  was  also  ignored.  This  immunity  kept 
many  men  in  the  public  life  of  the  city  whose  stay  would 
have  been  impossible  if  the  city  press  had  conserved  the 
power  of  its  criticism. 

A  great  deal  of  the  injustice  that  characterized  much 
of  the  newspaper  work  during  the  period  of  Chicago's 
most  rapid  growth  was  due  to  the  fact  that  much  of  the 
literary  talent  employed  in  the  city  at  that  time  was  nec- 
essarily imported  from  older  cities  of  the  East,  principally 
from  New  York  and  Washington.  There  corruption 
unquestionably  accompanied  much  of  the  public  work, 
and  the  writers  spoke  with  knowledge.  Their  constant 
acquaintance  with  official  dishonesty  led  them  to  believe 
it  was  a  universal  accompaniment  of  public  life,  and  they 
looked  for  it  as  a  matter  of  course.  In  the  new  city 
these  writers,  having  no  real  acquaintance  with  the  men 
who  were  engaged  in  the  herculean  labor  of  giving  the 
metropolis  form,  took  it  for  granted  they  were  the  same 
as  the  eastern  looters,  and  gauged  their  written  censure 
upon  this  conjecture,  making  it  severer  and  more  ram- 
pant upon  the  hypothesis  that  the  opportunities  were 
greater  than  the  well  plucked  East  afforded. 

The  conditions  were,  however,  entirely  different. 
The  East  was  old  and  had  a  large  population  displaced 


78  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

by  business  competition.  This  population  yielded  the 
adventurers  whose  only  remaining  chances  of  making 
money,  within  any  cover  of  respectability,  lay  in  holding- 
office  under  the  opportunities  afforded  by  the  spoils  system 
that  gave  them  entry.  In  Chicago  there  was  no  old  pop- 
ulation. There  were  no  crowded-out  men.  There  was 
work  for  all  in  normal  times.  There  were  outlets  for 
every  species  of  honest  endeavor.  The  chances  of  mak- 
ing money  were  so  numerous  that  it  was  difficult  to  get 
men  to  take  part  in  public  life.  As  a  rule,  only  those 
accepted  public  tasks  who  could  afford  to  work  for  little 
or  no  pay.  These  were  either  ambitious  politically  or 
were  men  inspired  to  do  their  share  in  the  constructive 
work  then  necessary.  There  were  exceptions,  certainly, 
but  they  were  fewer  than  the  story  of  the  building  of  any 
other  large  town  could  show.  In  Chicago  the  number  of 
men  who  needed  watching  in  public  life  never  was  large 
enough  to  dominate  any  period  of  its  legislation.  During 
the  eight  years  following  the  great  annexation,  the  time 
during  which  the  city  was  shaped  and  fitted  out  for  its 
career,  the  Board  of  Aldermen  was  composed  almost 
wholly  of  "city  builders;"  of  men  broad-gauged,  able, 
honest,  hard-working;  who  knew  the  requirements  of  a 
cosmopolitan  city,  believed  firmly  Chicago  had  them  all, 
and  who  had  enough  civic  pride  and  national  patriotism 
to  give  their  time,  their  talents  and  their  means  to  the 
arduous,  and  generally  thankless,  task  of  constructing 
the  most  suitable  foundation  for  the  largest  city  in  the 
world,  and  then  seeing  to  it  that  the  work  of  superstruc- 
ture was  properly  commenced  and  adequately  prose- 
cuted. 

Said  an  eastern  political  reformer  one  day  to. Mr. 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  70 

Madden:  "I  am  perfectly  astonished  at  you  and  your 
methods  in  the  Board." 

44 What  causes  your  astonishment?"  was  the  reply. 

"The  fact  that  you  allow  such  men  to  be  members  of 
the  Council  as  many  that  have  seats,  and  the  fact  that  a 
man  like  you  should  act  with  them  and. secure  the  pass- 
age of  bills  with  their  votes.  Why,  some  of  them  are  not 
gentlemen  at  all;  their  language  and  demeanor  show 
that.  What  will  become  of  your  city,  if  its  laws  are  to 
be  made  by  men  who  are  not  even  gentlemen?" 

44  If  all  the  voters  in  Chicago  were  clergymen,  I  sup- 
pose the  Council  would  be  composed  of  bishops," 
answered  Madden;  44 if  the  suffrage  were  limited  to  col- 
lege graduates,  the  Aldermen  might  all  be  professors. 
But  as  things  are  this  cannot  be.  Suffrage  is  universal 
here,  and  the  people  who  have  the  right  to  choose  their 
lawmakers  will  not  select  bishops  and  professors.  These 
voters  prefer  to  have  their  laws  made  by  people  just  like 
themselves.  It  may  be  they  imagine  that  folks  like 
themselves  are  more  apt  to  give  them  what  "they  as  tax- 
payers pay  for  than  clergymen  and  school  teachers 
would  be.  However  that  may  be,  the  Board  of  Aldermen 
is  elected  by  the  tax-payers,  and  is  perhaps  just  the  kind 
of  body  the  people  desire  to  make  their  laws.  Now,  it  is 
the  law  that  neither  I  nor  any  other  mail  can  get  a  city 
ordinance  legally  made  unless  it  receives  the  consent  of 
a  majority  of  the  men  who  are  elected  Aldermen,  whether 
they  are  what  you  call  gentlemen  or  not.  If  we  should 
refuse  to  propose  any  city  legislation  until  all  the  mem- 
bers who  have  a  right  to  vote  on  it  were  what  you  might 
certify  to  be  gentlemen,  the  city,  I  think,  would  stop, 
and    I  am  afraid  it  would   stay  stopped  a   long    time. 


80  MARTIN   B.  MADDEN 

Every  man  in  that  Board  has  the  same  right  in  it  that  I 
.have;  his  vote  counts  as  much  as  mine  does;  he  repre- 
sents what  his  constituency  wants  in  the  city  government 
just  as  thoroughly  as  I  do  what  the  Fourth  Ward  desires; 
and  his  people  believe  he  is  just  as  much  of  a  gentleman 
as  my  people  think  I  am.  People  differ  in  their  views 
as  to  what  a  gentleman  is.  I  believe  no  ward  in  this 
city  has  sent  any  member  here  who  is  not  considered  a 
gentleman  by  those  who  sent  him.  They  are,  therefore, 
according  to  the  powers  that  have  the  deciding  voice,  all 
gentlemen — the  whole  sixty-eight  of  them — gentlemen  of 
different  kinds.  Our  population  is  cosmopolitan.  The 
Scandinavian  wards  send  Scandinavian  gentlemen;  the 
Polish  wards,  Polish  gentlemen;  the  Italian  wards, 
Italian  gentlemen;  the  Bohemian  wards,  Bohemian  gen- 
tlemen; the  German  wards,  German  gentlemen;  the  Irish 
wards,  Irish  gentlemen;  the  American  wards,  American 
gentlemen,  and  so  on  through  the  thirty-four  wards 
composing  the  city.  It  so  happens  that  the  foreigners  in 
town  outnumber  the  native-born  three  to  one.  On  this 
account,  there  are  more  foreign  gentlemen  in  the  Council 
than  native.  It  is  the  result,  you  see,  of  the  American 
system  of  representative  government.  Now  which  of  these 
foreign  gentlemen  would  you  have  me  refuse  to  do  busi- 
ness with  in  my  efforts  to  get  city  legislation  enacted? 
Shall  I  refuse  to  procure  a  needed  ordinance  if  a  Pole  pre- 
sumes to  vote  for  it,  or  a  Swede  or  a  Bohemian?  Oris  it  the 
Italians  or  the  Germans  you  think  are  not  gentlemen?  It 
may  be  that  you  would  bar  out  from  your  class  only  the 
Irish  members?  You  see,  if  only  the  Americans  in  the 
Board  are  gentlemen  according  to  your  standard,  and 
you  confine  the  making  of  the  city  laws  to  them,  there 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  81 

are  not  enough  to  pass  any.  The  Irish,  the  German,  and 
the  other  foreign  gentlemen  are  needed  to  help.  It  is  the 
American  system,  my  dear  sir,  and  in  Chicago  we  find  it 
works  very  well  indeed.  Much  confusion  arises  in  our 
minds  sometimes  when  we  forget  that  a  man  may  be  well 
informed  and  very  able,  although  he  makes  a  poor  show- 
ing when  he  attempts  to  speak  our  language.  That  may 
be  the  only  thing  he  lacks  knowledge  of.  Several  of 
those  Aldermen  whose  speech  makes  you  and  the  galleries 
laugh  are  much  better  educated  and  informed  than 
others  whose  statements  you  applaud  as  the  utterances  of 
gentlemen.  If  you  will  permit  me  to  put  myself  in  your 
class,  what  sort  of  an  impression  would  you  and  I  make, 
with  all  our  knowledge  and  polish,  if  we  were  in  the  civil 
government  of  Paris  and  attempted  to  talk  good  political 
economy  in  bad  French?  You  see,  representative  govern- 
ment compels  us  to  do  the  best  we  can  with  the  legislative 
material  the  people  give  us.  The  more  you  look  into  it 
the  less  funny  it  is  and  the  more  serious  and  good." 

The  auditor  grew  very  restive  while  getting  the 
answer  to  his  shallow  inquiry.  He  was  hardly  gentle- 
man enough  to  wait  for  it  all.  "Beg  pardon,"  said  he; 
"I  didn't  know,  you  know.     Good-day. " 

"Oh,  I  beg  pardon,  too,"  rejoined  Madden;  "I  cannot 
believe  you  didn't  know;  you  simply  didn't  think. 
Think  better  of  us  hereafter,  please." 

To  a  celebrated  college  President  who  made  a  similar 
criticism,  Mr.  Madden  said:  "Legislation  in  this  Council 
is  almost  invariably  the  result  of  compromise.  Chicago  is 
a  city  of  nationalities.  All  the  countries  of  the  world  are 
largely  represented  in  the  two  millions  of  people  we  legis- 
late for  in  this  Board.  We  have  more  Poles,  more  Bohemi- 

6 


82  MARTIN    B.   .MADDEN 

ans,  more  Germans,  more  Irishmen  in  Chicago  than  there 
are  in  most  of  the  large  cities  in  Poland,  Bohemia, Germany 
or  Ireland.  The  Americans  are  in  the  minority  with  us. 
Our  city  government  is  a  representative  government.  In 
it  all  classes  of  our  people  have  an  equal  voice.  What 
prevails  does  so  by  the  consent  of  the  majority.  That 
consent  must  be  obtained  for  success.  These  different 
men  are  here  to  speak  for  our  differing  peoples  because 
the  latter  cannot  all  be  here  to  speak  for  themselves.  I 
do  not  see  the  man  solely — in  him  I  always  see  the 
people  who  sent  him  here  to  make .  their  wishes  known ; 
I  see  the  constituency.  Each  constituency  is  equal. 
The  men  here  may  be  unequal  as  men ;  but  in  the  law 
they  are  equal  as  representatives.  They  must  be  looked 
upon  in  that  way  and  so  treated  or  there  cannot  be  fair 
legislation.  It  is  unjust  to  think  that  because  a  constit- 
uency of  foreign-born  Chicagoans  desires  some  legislation 
that  an  American  district  does  not  ask  or  wish,  it  is  on 
that  account  bad.  Very  little  bad  legislation  has  ever 
been  sought  in  this  Council  since  I  have  been  in  it.  I 
know  that  much  of  the  legislation  proposed  here  has  been 
called  bad,  but  I  also  know  that  nearly  every  allegation 
of  fraud  that  has  ever  been  made  against  Chicago  Coun- 
cil action  was  inspired  by  the  'stop-thief  principle.  It 
is  the  cry  of  the  schemer  who  is  'knocked  out'  or  fears  to 
be,  raised  to  save  himself  or  to  revenge  himself.  Every 
ordinance  proposed  to  improve  civic  conditions  causes  the 
evil  threatened  with  displacement  to  howl  'corruption!' 
and  every  bill  granting  the  use  of  a  public  utility  to  a 
deserving  corporation  draws  from  the  rejected  seeker  the 
cry  of 'boodle!'  These  slanders  sometimes  deceive  the 
press  and  often  do  the  public,  but  they  seldom  fool 
the  Aldermen." 


CHAPTER  X. 


STREET    RAILWAY    FRANCHISES—THE    BEST   SOLUTION— SOME 
EXAMPLES. 


ONE  of  the  greatest  evils  which  resulted  from  the 
unthinking  and  indiscriminate  attacks  upon  the 
motives  of  the  city's  legislators  was  that  which  grew  into 
a  general  demand  that  every  public  franchise  within  the 
city's  gift  should,  when  about  to  be  bestowed,  be  put  up 
at  public  auction  and  sold  to  the  highest  bidder.  It  was 
argued  that  if  public  utilities  were  worth  anything  in  the 
nature  of  cash  payments,  the  city  should  get  all  the  pro- , 
ceeds  instead  of  having  them  intercepted,  as  was  alleged, 
by  the  city's  legislative  servants.  The  argument,  without 
examination,  seemed  plausible;  but  upon  analysis,  really 
proved  fallacious.  If  corporations  had  to  pay  for  fran- 
chises, under  the  spoils  system  then  prevailing  in  Chi- 
cago, it  would  have  been  better  to  let  the  Aldermen  take 
the  pay  than  to  leave  the  money  for  the  City  Hall  to 
appropriate,  upon  the  assumption  that  both  the  legisla- 
tive and  executive  branches  of  the  municipal  government 
were  equally  corrupt..  The  former  could  have  claimed 
they  were  the  discoverers  of  the  money.  This  would 
have  been  an  inconclusive  claim,  of  course,  but  the  City 
Hall  had  none  at  all. 

It  required  a  good  deal  of  fortitude  to  stand  up  against 
the  public  demand  for  cash  payment  for  franchises  at 
;  '  83 


84  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

that  time  in  Chicago.  The  municipality  was  all  the  time 
in  arrears  and  all  the  time  in  need  of  money.  It  was 
growing  so  fast  that  it  was  generally  found  impossible  to 
keep  income  and  expenditure  in  tally.  Mr.  Madden, 
however,  after  bestowing  all  the  study  he  could  upon  the 
question,  concluded  that  it  was  better  to  not  sell  fran- 
chises for  lump  sums  and  put  the  money  into  the  local 
treasury.  It  would  be  better  to  obtain  all  the  franchises 
were  worth  in  some  other  way.  Gradually  he  worked 
out  a  plan  of  obtaining  franchise  values  that  would  all 
go  to  the  town  without  any  possible  diversion.  The 
question  had  now  become  one  of  absorbing  interest, 
because  most  of  the  street  car  lines  were  being  consoli- 
dated and  the  corporation  supposed  to  be  operating  them 
was  putting  out  tenders  to  ascertain  on  what  basis  the 
city  would  extend  all  the  tramway  franchises  that 
expired  in  1903.  Several  measures  bearing  upon  this 
movement  were  introduced  and  discussed  in  the  Board 
of  Aldermen.  The  discussion  provoked  resulted  in  the 
formation  and  general  entertainment  of  the  opinion  that 
a  twenty-year  renewal  would  bring  the  sum  of  $20,000,000 
from  the  corporation.  Such  an  amount  was  desirable  to 
the  municipality  for  public  improvements  and  to  the 
spoils  politicians  for  handling.  The  Alderman  from  the 
Fourth,  in  a  public  address  on  civic  reform,  boldly 
declared  that  he  was  opposed  to  cash  sales  of  franchises. 
He  stamped  them  as  transactions  that  could  always  in 
municipal  governments  be  made  to  partake  of  the  nature 
of  blackmail.  He  took  the  ground  that  in  the  case  of  a 
street  railway  company  seeking  a  franchise  for  the  use 
of  a  public  thoroughfare  and  willing  to  pay  for  it,  there 
were  three   parties  interested  in    the    payment  whose 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  S5 

rights  should  be  considered.  There  was,  first,  the  general 
public  that  made  up  the  municipality;  second,  the  people 
owning  the  property  on  both  sides  of  the  way  to  be  trav- 
ersed; third,  the  travelers  who  paid  the  fares  and  whose 
patronage  supported  the  line  and  returned  the  cost  of  its 
construction.  If  the  city  got  the  money,  neither  the 
injured  property  owners  nor  the  fare  payers  might  ever 
receive  benefit  from  any  part  of  its  expenditure.  If  the 
sum  were  spent  on  the  street  used,  then  citizens  living 
elsewhere,  who  never  rode  in  that  street,  would  not 
obtain  any  advantage  from  the  fund.  If  the  payment 
were  made  in  reduced  fares  altogether,  then  neither  the 
property  owners  along  the  road  nor  any  other  citizens, 
unless  they  patronized  the  line,  would  derive  any  advan- 
tage. If  the  payment  were  divided  into  a  reduction  of 
fares  and  a  care  of  the  street  used,  all  interests  would 
receive  consideration.  The  general  public  would  be 
relieved  of  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  thoroughfare.  It 
might  cut  down  taxation  that  much,  or  spend  that  much 
more  on  other  streets.  The  property  owners  would  be 
assured  of  constantly  well  ordered  pavements  and  a  well 
kept  street  in  front  of  their  houses.  The  passengers 
would  ride  for  less  along  the  line  and  by  an  extension  of 
the  policy  would  have  the  certainty  of  being  able  to  ride 
everywhere  else  in  the  city  for  less.  This  plan,  Mr. 
Madden  argued,  would  use  the  money  paid  for  street 
railway  franchises  in  a  way  that  would  give  the  benefit 
of  it  to  those  who  made  the  railways  possible.  It  would 
reach  every  one  of  this  class.  No  other  plan  would.  He, 
therefore,  advocated  it  as  the  municipal  policy. 

To  the  clear-headed  and  disinterested  Madden's  pro- 
posed solution  was  instantly  acceptable.      Those  belong- 


86  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

ing  to  other  classes  could  see  no  value  in  it,  or  pretended 
they  could  not.  The  proposition  was  assailed  on  many 
sides  from  many  motives.  Madden  was  challenged  to 
produce  an  instance  of  the  successful  operation  of  any 
plan  in  any  way  similar  to  his.  He  accepted  the  chal- 
lenge. 

The  Wentworth  Avenue  car  line  was  operated  under 
a  franchise  that  lapsed  on  that  part  between  Twenty- 
second  and  Thirty-ninth  Streets.  The  company  requested 
a  renewal.  Mr.  Madden  asked  as  compensation  that  the 
company  pave  the  street  between  curb  and  curb,  keep  it 
constantly  in  repair,  keep  it  clean  in  all  kinds  of  weather 
and  sprinkled  in  summer,  and  curb  the  sidewalks  on  both 
sides.  The  company  did  not  hesitate  at  all  over  the 
proposition. 

The  company  operating  the  car  line  in  Indiana 
Avenue  desired  to  change  its  power  from  horses  to  elec- 
tric trolley.  It  was  given  permission  subject  to  the  con- 
sent of  a  majority  of  the  property  owners  on  both  sides 
of  the  thoroughfare.  This  ran  through  Madden's  ward. 
The  street  was  fully  occupied  and  nearly  all  the  houses 
were  of  the  better  class,  many  of  them  palatial.  The 
horse  cars  were  bad  enough,  with  their  slow,  irregular 
service,  their  noise  and  dirt.  The  proposed  trolley  was 
deemed  by  many  intolerable.  Mr.  Madden  was  appealed 
to  for  advice.  He  examined  the  situation.  Much  of  the 
pavement  was  Nicholson  wooden  block,  sunken,  uneven, 
rotting.  He  got  from  the  company  an  acquiescence  in 
the  proposition  to  pave  the  entire  street  with  asphaltum 
of  the  best  quality  from  sidewalk  to  sidewalk;  keep  the 
roadway  always  in  complete  repair;  keep  it  sprinkled  in 
summer  and  free  from  snow  in  winter,  and  always  clean, 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  87 

and  to  lay  and  maintain  the  curbing  on  both  sides,  for 
the  privilege  of  substituting  the  trolley  for  the  horse. 
He  advised  the  property  owners  to  accept  these  terms. 
He  pointed  out  the  superiority  of  the  trolley  service,  its 
greater  cleanliness,  speed,  regularity  and  power,  and 
dwelt  on  the  advantage  of  having  asphaltum  instead  of 
wood,  and  of  having  the  roadway  always  clean  and  clear. 
He  also  said  the  company,  in  case  the  propostion  was 
rejected,  would  undoubtedly  sooner  or  later  obtain  the 
majority  consent  needed,  even  if  it  had  to  purchase  it, 
which  would  really  be  cheaper  than  to  carry  out  the  pav- 
ing, cleaning  and  maintenance  proposal.  The  people 
were  excited  and  angry  and  stubborn.  They  declined 
the  company's  overtures.  The  result  was  what  Madden 
foresaw.  The  company  eventually  secured  the  majority 
consent  and  erected  the  trolley.  It  gives  Indiana  Avenue 
one  of  the  best  street  car  services  in  the  country,  but  the 
beautiful  thoroughfare  still  has  the  unsightly  patched-up 
pavement  and  the  uneven  curbing. 

One  of  the  most  valuable  freight  lines  in  the  metrop- 
olis is  the  Calumet  and  Blue  Island  route  in  South  Chi- 
cago. This  road  was  originally  proposed  by  the  Illinois 
Steel  Company.  It  desired  to  erect  an  additional  mill  at 
its  plant  on  the  Calumet.  It  needed  additional  railway 
accommodations  to  do  that.  Without  them  it  would  be 
compelled  to  increase  its  facilities  by  erecting  the  pro- 
posed new  mill  at  its  Joliet  plant.  The  mill  would  fur- 
nish employment  at  the  start  for  3,000  men.  The  com- 
pany asked  the  Council  for  a  franchise  for  a  right  of  way 
that  would  place  the  tracks  about  four  blocks  from  the 
water  along  three-quarters  of  a  mile  of  the  lake  shore. 
I  The  entire  right  of  way  would  be  through  marshes  and 


88  MARTIN   B.    MADDEN 

sand-dunes.  To  go  elsewhere  would  cost  for  right  of 
way  more  than  the  enterprise  would  be  worth  to  the 
company. 

The  appearance  of  the  proposed  ordinance  granting 
this  application  raised  a  storm  in  the  Council  and  a  bigger 
one  in  the  northern  part  of  the  city,  where  the  merits  of 
the  question  could  not  be  seen.  It  was  many  weeks 
before  the  Council.  The  oftener  it  was  brought  up  for 
consideration  the  more  public  denunciation  it  aroused. 
The  interests  opposed  to  its  passage  succeeded  until  the 
very  last  in  inflaming  the  people  against  it.  One  of  the 
most  successful  schemes  devised  to  defeat  its  adoption 
was  the  proposal  by  an  objecting  property  owner  to 
donate  the  city  sixteen  acres  for  park  purposes  on  the 
lake  front  between  Ninety-sixth  and  Ninety-eighth 
streets  if  the  Council  would  refuse  to  allow  the  road  to  be 
built  along  that  route.  This  caught  the  popular  imagi- 
nation. Delegations  of  all  kinds  went  before  the  Aldermen 
and  besought  them  to  save  the  water  front  for  the  weary 
workers  of  South  Chicagp  and  secure  the  proffered 
44 breathing  spot"  and  44  play-ground"  for  the  44  babies 
and  women  at  least."  One  deputation  of  ladies  made  a 
pathetic  appeal  on  this  score.  The  Illinois  Steel  Com- 
pany was  under  a  cloud  in  the  popular  mind  because  of 
recent  strikes  among  its  employes,  and  the  cry  was 
raised  that  the  railway  scheme  was  a  subterfuge  to 
acquire  a  right  to  part  of  the  lake  front.  The  Chicagoans 
were  sensitive  to  everything  that  looked  like  an  encroach- 
ment on  the  lake  front.  Mr.  Madden  and  other  public 
men  had  educated  them  into  the  resolution  of  setting 
apart  forever  for  park  uses  the  entire  lake  front  in  the 
city.     There  appeared  to  be  no  hope  for  the  bill.      None 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  89 

but  a  few  of  the  hardiest  men  in  the  Board  dared  advo- 
cate it.  The  Alderman  from  the  Fourth  voted  with  his 
party,  which  had  declared  opposition  to  the  ordinance. 
He  had  not  looked  carefully  into  the  matter,  taking  it 
for  granted  that  his  party's  leaders  had  sufficiently  done 
this  to  justify  his  action.  The  fact  was  that  these  leaders 
had  not  examined  into  the  merits  of  the  question.  Their 
attitude  was  taken  on  the  general  principle  that  it  was 
wise  to  oppose  anything  desired  of  the  Council  by  the 
Illinois  Steel  Company.  After  Mr.  Madden  had  twice 
voted  against  the  bill  and  had  by  so  doing  made  its  pros- 
pects hopeless,  Mr.  Marshall  Field  and  other  prominent 
business  men,  who  were  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
facts  in  the  case  and  alive  to  all  things  conducive  to  the 
city's  welfare,  called  a  conference  of  citizens  to  consider 
the  merits  of  the  dispute  between  the  Council  and  the 
great  steel  company.  The  meeting  appointed  a  commit- 
tee to  visit  South  Chicago  and  look  into  the  matter  on  the 
ground.  This  committee  requested  Mr.  Madden  to  be 
its  guest  during  the  journey.  He  accepted  the  invitation 
and  went. 

The  investigation  was  thorough  and  convinced  Mad- 
den that  his  attitude  was  wrong.  He  at  once  changed  it 
and  went  before  the  Council  and  told  it  the  truth.  He 
said  it  was  foolish  to  oppose  the  measure  simply  because 
the  steel  company  wished  it  passed;  that  the  bill  had 
merits  of  its  own  which  appealed  with  particular  force  to 
the  interests  of  the  city.  With  the  road  the  company 
could  afford  to  put  up  the  additional  mill.  Without  it, 
it  could  not.  The  erection  of  the  mill  meant  the  employ- 
ment at  once  of  3,000  more  skilled  workmen  at  high 
wages.  That  would  add  no  fewer  than  15,000  inhabitants 


90  MARTIN   B.    MADDEN 

to  the  city.  The  gain  would  be  but  the  initial  advantage, 
as  the  mill  would  grow  with  the  increased  railway  facil- 
ities the  new  road  would  furnish  the  steel  company.  The 
railway  proposed  would  open  up  a  new  region  then  unin- 
habited because  inaccessible,  and  would  in  a  short  time 
add  the  population  of  a  ward  to  the  city.  All  the  munic- 
ipality had  to  do  for  this  was  to  grant  a  franchise  that 
would  endanger  no  public  interest,  interfere  with  no 
private  right,  and  cost  nothing.  Men  having  faith  in  the 
enterprise  were  ready  to  take  all  the  risk  of  it  and  put  up 
all  the  money  necessary  to  carry  it  through.  In  regard 
to  the  opposition  that  had  been  aroused  against  the 
project  and  which  had  deceived  him  into  voting  twice 
against  it,  he  was  prepared  to  state  from  personal  inves- 
tigation that  there  was  no  good  ground  for  it.  In  fact,  it 
had  been  started  and  built  up  entirely  by  people  who 
wanted  the  road  between  the  agreed  terminals,  but  who 
insisted  on  having  it  laid  out  along  another  route.  This 
would  take  it  through  property  they  had  to  sell.  One  of 
these  people  had  300  lots  he  believed  the  company  would 
have  to  buy  if  the  project  as  before  the  Council  could  be 
defeated  and  the  road  diverted  into  the  only  other  route  it 
could  take.  The  park  land  offered  lay  buried,  he  said,  in 
from  twelve  to  fourteen  feet  of  Lake  Michigan  water,  out- 
side of  other  immersed  territory  the  donor  proposed  to  re- 
tain for  himself.  "  Why,  I  rode  all  over  it  on  a  tug  drawing 
ten  feet!"  he  exclaimed.  To  fill  in  the  proffered  breath- 
ing spot  and  raise  it  sufficiently  to  enable  the  breathers 
to  stand  upon  it  with  dry  feet  would  cost  the  city  not  less 
than  $500,000,  and  that  expenditure  would  make  the 
donor's  inside  contiguous  reserve  worth  a  large  fortune 
to  him.     It  was  these  land  speculators  alone  who  had 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  91 

raised  all  the  opposition.  He  was  prepared  to  give  their 
names  either  privately  to  Councilmen  desirous  of  know- 
ing the  truth,  or  to  the  whole  Board  if  that  were  necessary 
to  remedy  the  wrong  that  was  being  done.  Against  all 
this  was  the  steel  company's  plan  of  erecting  additional 
works  at  a  cost  of  $2,000,000,  in  which  would  be  paid  out 
in  new  wages  every  year  several  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars. Every  person  who  would  be  affected  in  any  way  by 
the  road  if  constructed^  except  those  speculators,  not 
only  desired  the  building  of  the  tracks,  but  wished  it 
done  along  the  route  asked  for  of  the  Council.  Mr. 
Madden's  report  and  the  cold,  hard  facts  he  gave  made 
those  who  had  been  caught  by  the  apparent  philanthropy 
of  the  opposition  feel  silly.  His  statement,  coming 
from  a  colleague  above  suspicion,  had  the  effect  of  bring- 
ing over  to  the  support  of  the  enterprise  enough  mem- 
bers who  secretly  favored  it,  but  had  not  dared  to  openly 
vote  for  it,  to  secure  its  passage,  in  spite  of  even  the 
Mayor's  public  opposition. 

When  the  Calumet  and  Blue  Island  ordinance  was 
passed  by  Mr.  Madden's  influence,  there  was  a  furore  of 
public  denunciation,  which  lasted  for  a  long  time  and 
was  powerful  enough  to  destroy  any  man  vulnerable  to 
public  attack.  An  example  of  its  influence  was  seen  in 
the  conduct  of  a  public  man  who  believed  fully  in  the 
enterprise  and  for  a  long  time  advocated  it,  and  was  even 
on  the  committee  with  Mr.  Madden  which  was  sent  to 
look  into  the  scheme.  He  joined  with  the  Alderman  and 
the  others  of  that  committee  in  unanimously  recommend- 
ing that  the  Council  pass  the  ordinance.  But  the  public 
storm  frightened  him  into  complete  desertion  from  any 
further  support,  either  private  or  public. 


92  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

The  road  has  proven  one  of  the  best  for  the  city  and 
its  people  ever  allowed  by  the  Council  to  be  constructed. 
The  Illinois  Steel  Company  to-day  employs  more  than 
five  times  as  many  men  at  its  South  Chicago  plant  as  it 
had  at  work  before  it  obtained  permission  to  build  the 
road,  which  is  five  times  as  many  as  it  could  employ  there 
without  the  road. 

These  examples  of  fairness  to  railway  corporations 
and  justice  to  the  tax-payers  added  to  Mr.  Madden's  influ- 
ence in  public  life.  They  also  gave  vogue  to  his  steady 
and  intelligent  opposition  to  the  idea  of  selling  franchises 
for  sums  of  money  to  be  turned  into  the  treasury  as 
temptations  to  official  cupidity  or  public  extravagance. 
As  the  time  approaches  for  the  expiration  of  the  street 
car  franchises,  as  1903  draws  near,  public  opinion  in 
Chicago  is.  rapidly  crystalli^ng  into  the  Madden  senti- 
ment, that  the  best  payment  for  the  use  of  the  city 
streets  by  transportation  companies  is  the  one  that  will 
result  in  lower  fares  to  the  travelers  and  complete  care 
.of  the  roadways  occupied.  For  nearly  a  decade  he  has 
claimed  that  a  twenty-year  renewal  of  the  franchises 
expiring  in  1903  should  net  the  city  at  least  the  sum  of 
$20,000,000,  to  be  expended  at  the  rate  of  $1,000,000  a 
year  on  the  streets  used,  as  well  as  a  reduction  of  fares 
to  perhaps  three  cents  per  passenger. 


CHAPTER  XL 


A  GREAT  FINANCIER — THE  WAY  CHICAGO  WAS  FINANCED — THE  WAY 

IT  IS  NOW. 


THE  process  of  obtaining  the  revenue  for  the  annual 
expenditures  and  of  appropriating  it  when  esti- 
mated was  laborious  and  complicated.  The  first  step 
was  the  ascertaining  of  the  amount  the  city  would  prob- 
ably secure  for  the  expenditure.  This  was  arrived  at  by 
calculating  the  sum  two  per  cent,  of  the  assessed  valua- 
tion of  the  real  and  personal  property  owned  in  the  cor- 
porate limits  would  yield  after  the  town  assessors  had 
completed  their  estimates  and  they  were  corrected  by 
the  State  Board  of  Equalization.  When  this  amount  was 
arrived  at,  there  was  added  to  it  what  all  the  saloon  and 
other  licenses  would  bring  from  January  ist  to  December 
31st  of  the  year  under  consideration.  The  license  rev- 
enue could  nearly  always  be  calculated  with  approximate 
exactitude;  that  from  taxation  never  could.  The  latter 
was  uncertain  because  of  constant  legal  resistance,  tax- 
dodging  and  loose  methods  in  collection.  While  the 
license  fees  produced  cash,  the  taxes  took  about  twelve 
months  to  gather.  To  bridge  over  there  were  two 
expedients.  One  was  to  pay  expenses  from  the  general 
fund,  and  the  other  was  to  borrow  on  vouchers  bearing 
on  the  taxes  as  they  came  in.  The  general  fund  was  the 
sum  that  had  been  saved  by  all  the  departments  of  the 
municipal  government  from  the  appropriations  made  to 

93 


94  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

them  during  the  previous  year.  As  a  rule,  the  total  of 
these  savings  was  always  inadequate  to  meet  the  deficit 
caused  by  slow  or  irregular  collection  of  the  taxes,  owing 
to  the  very  rapid  growth  of  the  town  and  the  constant 
emergency  expenses.  The  borrowing  was  habitual, 
expensive  and  frequently  so  difficult  to  accomplish  that 
thousands  of  municipal  employes  were  often  kept  from 
their  salaries  months  at  a  time. 

When  the  estimates  of  revenue  were  made  up  by  the 
Finance  Committee  of  the  Council,  whose  business  it  was 
to  attend  to  all  this  preliminary  work,  it  could  be  guessed 
how  much  money  the  city  could  afford  to  spend  during 
the  coming  year.  The  next  step  was  to  find  out  how 
much  all  the  departments  desired  to  use.  This  was 
learned  by  calling  upon  the  official  heads  of  each  to  send 
in  detailed  demands  for  all  their  probable  financial  needs 
for  the  whole  year  ahead.  These  demands  included  the 
number  of  persons  to  be  employed,  the  title,  position  and 
salary  of  each,  and  the  description  of  the  work  or  duty 
every  one  of  them  was  to  be  assigned  to  perform ;  the 
amount  needed  for  buildings,  repairs  and  other  construc- 
tion and  maintenance  purposes;  and  the  costs  of  new 
bridges,  sewers,  streets,  and  subways,  as  well  as  water 
and  sewer  pumping,  street  cleaning,  and  so  on. 

T^nese  demands  were  called  for  on  the  first  of  the 
year.  Generally  it  took  about  a  month  to  get  them  all  in 
hand.  When  they  were  in,  the  Chairman  of  the  Finance 
Committee  called  that  body  together  and  placed  before  it 
in  detail  all  the  information  collected  respecting  both  the 
revenue  expected  and  the  appropriations  demanded. 
The  items  on  both  sides  were  then  scrutinized,  debated 
and  sifted  down  to  the  minutest  detail.     This  work  occu- 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  95 

pied  many  hours  every  day  for  three  or  four  weeks.  It 
was  usually  completed  about  March  ist,  and  was  nine 
times  out  of  ten  accomplished  by  scaling  down  the 
demands  to  about  one-fourth  their  original  sum.  The 
committee  then  reported  its  recommendations  to  the 
Council.  The  Board  organized  itself  into  a  committee  of. 
the  whole  and  worked  over  the  matter  for  perhaps  a 
week.  The  result  was  placed  before  the  Council  in  reg- 
ufar  session.  In  this,  open  controversy  dealt  with  all  the 
items,  each  interested  department  obtaining  some  kind 
of  hearing  against  the  paring  down  decided  on.  Finally, 
the  Council  adopted  the  Finance  Committee's  report  in 
its  amended  condition. 

The  report  as  approved  was  now  sent  to  the  Mayor  as 
the  year's  appropriation  bill.  To  him  rushed  all  the  dis- 
satisfied department  interests  and  made  their  last  essays. 
The  Executive  had  the  right  to  veto  any  item  in  the 
bill,  or  any  number  of  items,  and  to  approve  the  others. 
He  returned  it  to  the  Board,  with  or  without  vetoes.  It 
required  a  two-thirds  vote  in  the  Council  to  pass  any 
vetoed  item.  The  opposition  to  the  Mayor  seldom  could 
rally  such  a  vote,  and  he  often  succeeded,  when  all  other 
interests  had  failed  to  do  it,  in  killing  certain  proposed 
expenditures.  When  the  bill  was  at  last  voted  on  by  the 
Council,  after  coming  from  the  Executive's  hands,  it 
became  the  legal  appropriation  for  the  city's  expendi- 
tures for  that  fiscal  year,  which  began  on  January  ist. 
The  work  had  to  be  completed  by  midnight  on  March 
31st.  Failure  to  finish  the  task  then  made  it  impossible 
for  any  of  the  city  departments  to  obtain  any  regular 
income  for  the  ensuing  twelve  months. 

When  the  appropriation  bill  was  passed  by  the  Board 


96  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

of  Aldermen,  it  became  the  duty  of  the  Finance  Commit- 
tee to  see  that  all  the  departments  received  the  share  of 
the  revenue  assigned  to  them ;  to  attend  to  the  task  of  see- 
ing that  the  money  was  used  for  the  purposes  towards 
which  it  was  contributed;  and  then  to  arrange  for  extra 
allowances  when  they  became  necessary,  and  procure  the 
cash  to  meet  them.  The  committee  generally  left  this 
all  to  its  Chairman,  who  was  elected  by  the  whole  Council 
because  of  his  ability  in  this  kind  of  work. 

The  Chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee,  it  will  be 
seen,  was  practically  the  most  important  member  of  the 
city  legislature.  He  was  of  necessity  the  Finance  Minis- 
ter of  the  municipality.  It  was  his  duty  to  know  at  all 
times  what  the  condition  of  the  city's  financial  resources 
were;  to  visit  all  departments  of  the  government  every 
day;  to  see  that  those  in  charge  were  conducting  them 
in  an  economical  manner,  and  that  they  were  not  exceed- 
ing the  appropriations  set  apart  for  them  without  abso- 
lutely good  reasons.  He  had  to  familiarize  himself  with 
every  detail  of  the  management  of  each  department ;  to 
know  its  needs  and  be  able  to  say  whether  the  number 
of  men  asked  to  perform  the  work  going  on  was  requisite 
or  in  excess;  to  listen  to  complaints  on  disputed  claims 
against  the  corporation  and  to  secure  evidence  thereon ; 
to  act  with  the  Mayor  and  Comptroller  on  all  important 
financial  matters  in  which  the  city  was  interested; 
to  be  a  traveling  encyclopaedia  of  information  on  every 
question  of  municipal  administration;  to  carry  out  all 
orders  of  the  Finance  Committee,  whose  executive  officer 
he  was,  and  all  orders  the  Council  saw  fit  to  give  him  to 
attend  to  relating  to  city  business  of  every  kind.  He 
had  to  investigate  and  report  on  additional  water,  sewer, 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  97 

bridge,  and  street  needs;  to  enquire  into  and  inform 
the  Board  about  every  occasion  or  emergency  requiring 
unforeseen  expenditure  of  public  money,  and  to  stand 
between  the  tax-payers  and  all  attempts  to  collect  dis- 
puted bills.  In  addition,  he  had  to  adjudicate  all  claims 
against  the  city  for  damages  before  the  cases  were  turned 
over  to  the  law  department  for  final  action.  These 
claims  amounted  to  millions  every  year,  and  hundreds 
and  thousands  of  them  were  annually  cast  out  after  inves- 
tigation. 

The  enormous  amount  of  work  thrown  on  the  Chair- 
man of  the  Finance  Committee  during  the  seven  years 
after  annexation  required  his  best  thought  and  energy 
for  an  average  of  not  less  than  eight  hours  every  day 
during  the  greater  part  of  each  year.  He  had  to  per- 
sonally see  not  less  than  one  hundred  people  each  day 
and  discuss  with  them  every  question  put  to  him  on  any 
phase  of  the  city's  business.  He  was  obliged  to  circum- 
vent the  efforts  of  the  crafty  to  impose  upon  the  public, 
and  to  withstand  the  enmity  and  revenge  of  the  disap- 
pointed. He  was  the  great  buffer  between  the  treasury 
and  all  its  assailants,  and  he  had  to  possess  vast  resisting 
as  well  as  extraordinary  recuperative  powers. 

No  other  man  that  ever  was  elected  to  the  Chicago 
Board  of  Aldermen  succeeded  in  performing  the  duties  of 
Finance  Minister  more  than  a  couple  of  terms  in  succes- 
sion ;  Madden  held  the  office  five.  His  five  years  were 
the  most  trying  in  the  history  of  the  city.  They  were 
the  years  of  adjustive  growth;  those  in  which  a  financial 
policy  had  to  be  extracted  and  formed  out  of  conditions 
so  new  that  there  was  no  experience  on  which  to  base 
operations.      The   work  pulled  him   down    and    nearly 


98  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

brought  him  to  a  grave.  But  he  stuck  to  it,  completed 
it,  and  when  at  last  he  did  retire  he  left  an  established 
system  that  was  nearly  automatic. 

When  he  first  assumed  the  cares  of  that  office  the  con- 
dition of  the  city's  financial  business  was  such  that  it  had 
required  never  less  than  ten  full  days  to  get  the  Finance 
Committee's  annual  appropriation  report  passed  as  a  bill 
by  the  Council.  During  his  last  year  in  office  he  had 
accomplished  such  systematic  method  in  the  conduct  of 
financial  legislation  that  the  longest  time  it  then  required 
to  obtain  the  Board's  acceptance  of  the  same  committee's 
annual  budget  was  twenty-seven  minutes,  and  the  short- 
est seventeen.  Only  once  was  any  reduction  made  by 
the  Council  in  any  of  his  annual  appropriations,  and  that 
amounted  to  $265.  When  elected  Finance  Minister  the 
General  Fund  was  inadequate  by  $1,500,000  at  least  every 
year;  when  he  resigned  it  had  been  built  up  to  reliable 
and  automatic  sufficiency. 

During  his  first  year  as  Finance  Minister  he  saved  the 
city  $1,000,000,  and  during  his  second  $1,500,000,  by 
cutting  off  unnecessary  expenditures  without  any  impair- 
ment of  the  public  service,  while  he  at  the  same  time 
increased  its  revenue.  He  found  the  salaries  reasonable 
and  refused  to  permit  them  to  be  reduced.  He  insisted 
that  none  of  the  public  servants  was  overpaid  and  resisted 
every  effort  to  put  them  on  poverty  wages.  He  stood 
for  efficient  and  well  paid  labor  and  effected  his  econ- 
omies by  destroying  extravagant  or  useless  expenditures. 
He  augmented  the  revenues  by  developing  the  locality's 
commercial  and  manufacturing  advantages,  in  this  way 
increasing  the  population  and  enlarging  the  taxable  prop- 
erty.     By  such  means  he  managed  gradually  to  raise  the 


PUBLIC   SERVANT  99 

public  school  appropriation  from  $3,000,000  to  $8,000,000 
per  annum.  Whenever  the  departments  found  it  neces- 
sary to  legitimately  spend  more  than  had  been  allotted  to 
them,  he  never  hesitated  to  help  them  out.  If  the  short- 
age resulted  in  difficulty  in  meeting  the  pay  rolls,  he 
would  without  delay  procure  a  loan  rather  than  have  the 
employes  suffer. 

An  instance  of  his  disposition  in  this  respect  was  his 
borrowing  from  a  number  of  banks  the  sum  of  $600,000, 
during  November,  1894,  to  pay  the  fire  and  police  salaries 
for  the  two  previous  months,  when  the  necessary  con- 
struction accounts  of  these  departments,  added  to  tax 
delinquencies,  left  no  money  on  hand  with  which  to  pay 
these  needy  and  deserving  men. 

The  Alderman  never  lost  his  early  sympathy  for  labor. 
While  in  New  York  on  business  one  day  during  the 
period  of  his  finance  ministry,  in  November,  1894,  he 
noticed  in  the  papers  of  that  city  serious  reflections  on 
Chicago's  treatment  of  its  public  laborers.  The  incident 
that  furnished  the  jealous  writers  foundation  for  their 
abusive  attacks  on  Chicago's  credit  was  the  sudden  and 
summary  discharge  from  employment,  without  pay,  of 
200  poor  men  who  had  been  engaged  at  moderate  wages 
in  shifting  the  water'  mains  in  Lake  street.  This  was 
hard  and  unhealthful  toil.  It  had  been  made  necessary 
by  the  construction  in  that  thoroughfare  of  the  pillar 
foundations  for  the  elevated  railway  then  being  erected. 
When  the  Council  had  granted  the  company  permission 
to  build,  Mr.  Madden  had  secured  a  proviso  that  it  should, 
before  the  commencement  of  work,  deposit  in  the  city 
treasury  sufficient  cash  to  cover  the  cost  of  removing  the 
water  pipes  away  from  the  line  of  the  pillars.     Surveys 


100  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

showed  that  this  work  would  cost  $35,000.  The  com- 
pany agreed  to  the  proposition.  When  the  Alderman  read 
of  the  discharge  of  the  200  laborers  he  knew  they  could 
not  have  been  set  to'  work  at  first  unless  the  company 
had  carried  out  its  part  of  the  contract,  as  there  was  no 
other  fund  than  that  arranged  for  with  it  available  for 
their  employment.  He  at  once  telegraphed  asking  why 
the  men  had  been  dismissed.  He  was  answered  there  was 
no  fund  at  hand  with  which  to  pay  their  wages.  Astounded, 
he  took  the  first  express  train  home.  He  went  straight 
to  the  treasurer's  office  and  found  there  the  railway 
company's  certified  deposit  of  $35,000.  Going  to  the 
department  of  public  works,  he  learned  that  office  had  to 
let  the  men  go  and  stop  the  work  because  the  Comptroller 
refused  to  cash  the  warrants  drawn  on  him  for  the  wages 
of  the  laborers,  on  the  ground  that  he  had  no  funds  on 
hand  applicable  for  the  purpose.  When  the  Alderman 
informed  him  of  the  presence  of  the  company's  money 
in  the  treasury,  the  Comptroller  replied  that  he  had  no 
official  knowledge  of  its  presence  there,  as  the  Treasurer 
had  not  yet  legally  notified  him  of  it.  There  was  a 
rustle  in  that  department  and  the  workmen  got  their 
money  and  re-employment.  The  episode  shows  one  of 
the  many  causes  of  popular  discontent  with  official  man- 
agement of  public  affairs. 

Instances  like  this  were  not  rare.  All  kinds  of 
schemes  were  resorted  to  by  people  who  desired  to  have 
money  out  safely  at  good  rates  to  get  and  keep  the  city 
in  their  debt.  Sometimes  officials  connived  at  this.  At 
others  the  creditor  derived  advantage  from  official 
unwillingness  to  divulge  shortage  in  other  directions. 
The  gas  bill  against  the  city  was  permitted  to  run  and 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  101 

accumulate  for  sixteen  months,  until  it  had  reached  the 
sum  of  $190,000.  In  this  way  the  municipality  was  per- 
mitted to  fall  into  arrears.  It  was  so  solvent  that  invest- 
ors seeking  interest  allowed  their  claims  to  rest  as  long 
as  they  could;  it  was  so  unreliable  as  to  dates  of  payment 
that  creditors  exacted  and  obtained  high  rates  for  their 
patience;  and  heads  of  departments  were  so  constantly 
pressed  for  money  because  of  the  astonishing  and  incal- 
culable development  of  the  town,  that  they  were  prone 
to  incur  any  kind  of  obligation  that  would  enable  them 
to  have  funds  for  unanticipated  needs.  It  was  no  won- 
der that  the  total  arrearages  grew  until  they  amounted 
to  the  sum  of  $7,000,000.  Then  there  was  an  attempt 
to  induce  the  city  government  to  issue  bonds  to  raise  this 
amount.  This  could  not  be  done  without  the  consent  of 
the  State  Legislature,  the  city  being  prohibited  by  law 
from  issuing  bonds.  Chicago's  possibilities  were  so  uni- 
versally appreciated  that  there  was  no  time  after-i88o, 
and  particularly  after  the  fair  of  1893,  that  it  would  have 
experienced  difficulty  in  floating  a  vast  public  debt  at  any 
reasonable  rate.  Such  a  debt  would  have  been  hailed  by 
investors  everywhere  as  a  desirable  lodgment  for  surplus 
money.  The  Finance  Minister  was  strongly  and  ener- 
getically opposed  to  every  plan  set  on  foot  to  induce  the 
city  to  bond  for  any  purpose.  His  position,  declared  on 
every  available  occasion,  was  that  Chicago  should  pay  as 
she  went;  should  invite  world-wide  attention  as  the  one 
great  city  without  a  large  public  debt;  should  conserve 
hei^  credit  by  keeping  it  free  from  burden  at  least  until 
events  demonstrated  beyond  dispute  just  what  position 
in  the  world  municipalities  she  was  destined  to  occupy, 
when  she  might  desire  at  one  great  stroke  to  settle  all 


102  MARTIN   B.  MADDEN 

question  of  rivalry  and  would  have  the  most  available  as 
well  as  the  most  valuable  financial  standing  with  which 
to  then  attain  her  aim. 

When  sent  to  Springfield  on  a  special  committee  to 
secure  legislative  consent  to  bonding  or  issuing  interest- 
bearing  warrants  for  the  purpose  of  adjusting  the 
$7,000,000  of  arrearage,  he  made  no  secret  of  his  prefer- 
ence for  a  permit  to  issue  the  warrants  for  the  amount, 
rather  than  one  for  bonding.  The  latter  would  create  a 
bad  precedent  and  a  financial  interest  in  keeping  the  city 
in  debt  for  a  source  of  income  to  investors.  The  war- 
rants would  be  negotiable  and  would  be  a  kind  of  demand 
notes,  whose  existence  would  always  act  as  a  warning 
to  economy  and  against  further  indebtedness.  The  Leg- 
islature refused  to  sanction  bonding  and  legalized  the 
issue  of  the  warrants  bearing  interest,  thus  affording 
relief  in  a  way  every  disinterested  financier  now  admits 
was  the  best. 

The  result  of  the  Alderman's  untiring  efforts  to  finance 
Chicago  through  the  spendthrift  period  of  youth,  by 
increasing  its  business  and  its  taxable  assets;  by  reduc- 
ing its  extravagances  and  its  outlay;  by  enlarging  its 
opportunities  and  its  credit,  is  plain  now.  The  lakeside 
metropolis  has  more  unincumbered  assets  than  any  other 
city  in  the  world.  It  has  more  unburdened  opportun- 
ities, and  greater  ability  to  either  utilize  them  or  realize 
on  them.  As  a  corporation  it  has  the  greatest  potential- 
ity of  all  municipalities,  because  whatever  it  decides  to 
do  it  has  the  power  easily  to  do,  having  no  debt  impedi- 
ment. During  the  five  years  Mr.  Madden  acted  as  finan- 
cier for  the  city  of  Chicago,  he  not  only  practically  led 
in  shaping  the  legislation  that  made  the  place  what  it  is, 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  103 

but  he  superintended  the  collection  of  $125,000,000  of 
revenue  for  municipal  uses,  and  personally  controlled  the 
expenditure  of  every  dollar  of  that  vast  sum.  His  work 
shows  that  the  city  has  assets  to  display  for  every  shilling 
of  the  investment. 

When  on  March  22,  1897,  with  health  nearly  worn 
out  by  hard,  long  public  service,  he  was  compelled  to 
announce  physically  enforced  retirement  from  further 
Aldermanic  labor,  his  valedictory  aroused  sentiment 
whose  applause  it  took  a  long  half  hour  to  express.  *  *  When 
I  entered  this  Council  as  a  member,"  he  said,  "the  city 
contained  but  thirty-seven  square  miles  of  territory.  It 
now  has  186.  It  then  had  880,000  people.  It  has  2,000,- 
000  now.  We  have  in  eight  years  constructed  500  miles 
of  new  sidewalks,  laid  618  miles  of  water  mains,  built 
814  miles  of  sewers,  and  paved  947  miles  of  new  streets. 
We  have  erected  345  miles  of  buildings  and  spent  on 
them  $311,600,000.  We  have  increased  the  water  rev- 
enues from  $1,621,786  to  $3,716,835.  We  have  by  law 
abolished  grade  crossings  on  several  hundred  miles  of 
railways,  and  have  substituted  the  cable,  the  electric  line 
and  the  elevated  road  for  horse  car  service  in  the  streets. 
We  have  now  392  miles  of  this  improved  transportation 
system  in  operation  within  the  city  limits.  We  have 
established  civil  service  in  the  city,  and  all  who  do  pub- 
lic work  now  do  it  for  the  tax-payers  who  pay  their  sal- 
aries and  for  no  one  else.  We  have  secured  the  lake 
front  forever  to  the  people  for  park  purposes  and  put 
the  pleasure  grounds  for  all  time  alongside  the  business 
streets.  The  city  is  at  present  spending  $50,000,000  for 
the  construction  of  a  drainage  canal  that  will  both  cleanse 
the  town  and  secure  for  its  population  an  unlimited  and 


104  MARTIN   B.  MADDEN 

an  indestructible  supply  of  the  best  drinking  water  avail- 
able in  any  community  in  the  world.  We  have  at  an 
expenditure  of  $30,000,000  built  a  White  City  that  has 
made  all  mankind  acquainted  with  the  fact  that  here  live 
the  greatest  city  builders  the  human  race  has  ever  had. 
To-day  the  streets  of  Chicago  have  more  of  the  rush  and 
activity  of  modern  life  than  have  the  thoroughfares  of 
London.  Into  our  city  every  twenty-four  hours  1,500 
trains  arrive  and  depart,  and  200,000  strangers  come  and 
go.  In  eight  years  the  permanent  assets  of  our  city  have 
been  increased  from  $24,000,000  in  value  to  more  than 
$56,000,000.  We  have  more  property  belonging  to  the 
public  now  than  we  then  had  by  an  amount  exceeding 
$32,000,000  at  actual  cost,  and  at  real  value  by  an  amount 
exceeding  $160,000,000.  The  city's  credit  is  to-day  the 
best  possessed  by  any  municipality  on  earth.  Our  prop- 
erty is  the  least  encumbered  and  is  the  most  available  of 
any  owned  by  cities.  We  owe  practically  less  money 
than  any  other  civic  corporation.  Our  bonded  debt,  all 
told,  is  net  but  $11,670,000.  Less  than  one-half  our 
yearly  revenue  would  pay  all  we  owe.  So  that  Chicago 
has  the  best  borrowing  power  of  any  existing  civic  cor- 
poration, and  she  has  the  greatest  power  to  achieve  any 
great  task  her  future  ambition  may  decide  on.  Chicago 
is  better  founded,  better  started,  and  has  more  power  for 
endurance  and  improvement  in  the  race  for  municipal 
supremacy  than  any  other  place  now  inhabited  by  men, 
whatever  claims  and  aspirations  any  other  may  put 
forth." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

ENTERTAINING  WORLD'S  FAIR  GUESTS— A  BATTLE  FOR   MORALITY- 
A  GREAT  SPEECH. 


IN  189 1  Mr.  Madden  was  prevailed  upon  to  be  a  candi- 
date for  re-election  to  the  Board  of  Aldermen  for  a 
second  term  of  two  years.  He  had  two  opponents,  an 
Independent  and  a  regular  Democratic  nominee.  He  was 
Chairman  of  the  Councilmanic  Committee  for  the  Colum- 
bian Fair.  During  the  campaign  the  Fair  Directory  sent 
into  the  ward  and  had  circulated  a  request  that  the  voters 
of  all  parties  unite  in  keeping  Mr.  Madden  in  the  Board. 
The  Directors  belonged  to  different  political  organiza- 
tions, and  their  circular  contained  the  following:  " While 
Mr.  Madden  has  been  a  zealous  guardian  of  the  city's 
interests,  he  has  also  been  an  earnest  and  untiring  advo- 
cate before  the  Council  of  all  measures  calculated  to 
advance  the  interestsof  the  Exposition,  and  the  Directors 
feel  that  they  cannot  spare  his  services  for  the  next  two 
years  if  it  is  possible  to  avoid  it." 

The  Evening  Post,  Democratic,  published  this'  appeal 
March  25,  1891,  and  said  of  it:  "No  higher  tribute  could 
be  paid  to  a  Chicago  Alderman  in  this,  the  World's  Fair, 
epoch  in  Chicago's  history.  In  Alderman  Madden'scase 
the  tribute  is  well  deserved."  He  defeated  his  opponents 
by  a  plurality  of  1,500  votes. 

During  this  period  in  Chicago's  growth  it  was  what 
everywhere  was  known  as  a  "wide  open  town."     There 

105 


106  MARTIN   B.  MADDEN 

was  a  state  law  in  existence  making  it  illegal  to  keep 
drinking  saloons  and  all  places  of  amusement  of  that 
kind  open  for  the  transaction  of  business  after  midnight 
unless  the  municipality  specially  legalized  it.  The  inten- 
tion of  this  was  in  the  direction  of  public  morality.  It 
placed  the  onus  of  extending  license  upon  the  communi- 
ties countenancing  it,  the  theory  being  that  even  as  large 
a  city  as  Chicago  would  not  legalize  an  "open  town" 
except  for  some  special  "good  reason,"  or  upon  demand 
of  the  public.  The  so-called  sporting  community  of  the 
city  had  never  been  able  to  secure  the  passage  of  an 
extending  ordinance,  nor  had  the  people  ever  been  able  to 
get  more  than  spasmodic  efforts  at  enforcement  of  the 
law  as  it  was.  The  whole  problem  remained  at  a  stub- 
born hitch.  There  could  hardly  be  a  question  that 
because  of  the  scandal  and  immorality  resulting  from  the 
openness  of  the  city,  the  majority  of  the  native  citizens 
were  in  favor  of  the  midnight  law.  But  they  could  not 
get  a  majority  of  the  Council  to  vote  that  way.  because  a 
majority  of  the  wards  were  opposed  to  the  law.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  at  this  time  something  less  than  thirty 
per  cent,  of  the  population  of  Chicago  were  of  native 
birth.  As  late  as  1896  the  school  census  showed  that 
seventy  and  one-half  per  cent,  of  the  people  of  Chicago 
were  of  foreign  birth.  Not  only  were  these  people 
accustomed  to  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors,  but  most  of 
them  looked  upon  this  country  as  a  land  of  the  utmost 
liberty,  and  they  resented  any  public  interference  with 
personal  habits  in  the  matter  of  drink.  Then  the  foreign 
population  congregated  according  to  nationality,  consti- 
tuting the  larger  number  of  people  in  most  of  the  wards, 
the  Americans  living  as  a  rule  by  themselves.     As  each 


PUBLIC   SERVANT  107 

of  the  thirty-four  wards  was  entitled  to  two  members  in 
the  city  legislature,  it  will  be  seen  what  a  difficult  prob- 
lem was  that  of  handling  the  temperance  question 
through  any  legislation  possible  at  that  time.  Neither 
party  could  do  it,  and  public  men  who  had  personal 
ambitions  to  serve  were  easily  persuaded  to  cater  to  the 
foreign  and  sporting  vote. 

Mayor  Washburne,  Republican,  realized  the  difficulty 
of  the  situation ;  but  he  also  understood  the  impossibility 
of  dealing  with  it  as  the  "better  element' '  desired  him  to 
do.  The  majority  and  popularity  were  unquestionably 
on  the  other  side. 

After  much  thought  over  the  whole  question,  whether 
it  would  be  better  to  oppose  the  majority  sentiment 
favoring  freedom  and  enforce  the  state  law,  or  fly  in  the 
face  of  the  minority  and  legalize  what  the  greater  num- 
ber wanted  continued,  he  at  last  decided  upon  the  latter 
course. 

He  prepared  an  ordinance  permitting  the  keeping  of 
saloons  open  in  the  city  after  midnight  under  certain 
restrictions.  He  did  not  take  Mr.  Madden  into  his  con- 
fidence. He  had  20,000  appointments  under  his  absolute 
personal  control.  He  could  dismiss  from  the  public 
service  any  policeman,  any  fireman,  any  clerk,  any 
laborer,  or  any  other  of  the  one  score  thousand  people  in 
the  city  pay.  Civil  service  tests  and  security  of  tenure 
in  public  place  had  not  yet  been  introduced  into  the  civic 
habits  of  the  giant  city.  He  saw  each  Alderman  but  the 
one  from  the  Fourth  Ward,  separately,  described  the  pro- 
posed ordinance,  gave  his  reasons  for  desiring  its  passage, 
and  in  this  way  obtained  a  pledge  of  support  for  it  from 
sixty-seven  of  them.     Several  asked  before  they  gave 


108  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

their  pledges:  "How  does  Madden  stand  on  it?"  The 
oracular  response,  "Oh,  Madden  is  all  right,"  usually 
convinced  the  hearer  that  the  Finance  Committee's 
Chairman  was  to  support  the  measure. 

When  every  vote  in  the  Council  had  thus  been  secured 
but  that  of  Madden,  the  Mayor  called  upon  him,  showed 
him  the  bill,  and  then  said:  "Before  submitting  the 
ordinance  to  the  other  members  or  introducing  it,  I 
thought  it  best  to  obtain  your  opinion  on  it  as  leader  of 
the  party  in  the  Council.     What  do  you  think  of  it?" 

"I  think  it  is  bad  as  morals  and  bad  as  a  party  meas- 
ure,'* replied  the  Alderman.  "The  Republican  party  is 
not  in  favor  of  legalizing  the  vicious  practice  now  in 
vogue,  and  it  would  be  immoral  to  sanction  it.'' 

"What  would  you  do  if  such  a  measure  should  be 
introduced  in  the  Council?" 

"As  a  Republican,  I  should  do  all  in  my  power  to 
induce  the  party  majority  in  that  body  to  repudiate  the 
bill;  and  as  a  citizen  strive  with  all  my  might  to  defeat 
it." 

"But  sixty-seven  members  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen 
desire  such  an  ordinance  introduced,  and  have  pledged 
themselves  to  support  it.  It  is  because  of  this  general 
desire  that  it  is  proposed  to  introduce  it  at  the  next 
meeting.  You  wuold  not  place  yourself  in  opposition  to 
the  expressed  desire  of  every  other  member  of  the 
Council,  would  you?" 

"I  certainly  would  on  such  a  matter  as  this,  because 
it  is  wrong.  I  would  try  to  convince  them  of  its  wrong- 
fulness. ' ' 

"But  when  sixty-seven  of  the  sixty-eight  in  the 
Council  desire  the  measure,  would  it  not  be  better  to  con- 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  109 

fine  your  opposition  to  voting  against  it,  and  refrain  from 
argument?  That  might  simply  set  them  in  opposition  to 
you,  and  impair  your  usefulness  in  the  Board  in  the 
future.  The  thing  is  wanted  by  the  whole  Council. 
Why  not  let  them  have  their  way  and  vote  without 
speaking?" 

44  That  would  be  criminal.  I  should  be  bound  to 
oppose  the  passage  of  such  an  ordinance  with  everything 
in  my  power  and  do  all  I  could  to  persuade  the  other 
members  against  it.  There  is  but  one  thing  for  a  man 
in  a  legislative  body  to  do,  and  that  is  to  do  right  with 
all  his  might,  at  the  right  time,  and  all  the  time." 

4 'Then  you  are  determined  to  speak  against  such  a 
measure  if  it  should  be  introduced,  as  well  as  vote 
against  it?" 

44I  am." 

44I  am  sorry  you  take  that  attitude,  because  the  ordi- 
nance is  desired  and  it  will  pass  by  a  vote  of  sixty-seven 
against  one — you  that  one." 

"Don't  be  too  sure  about  that." 

Mr.  Madden  went  to  work  among  his  colleagues,  and 
when  the  all-night  ordinance  was  introduced  he  succeeded 
in  preventing  its  passage  by  obtaining  a  tie  vote. 

The  Mayor  was  surprised  and  disgusted  by  this  vote, 
"but  his  surprise,"  said  a  daily  paper,  "was  not  equal  to 
his  anger,  which,  although  well  concealed,  was  boiling 
over  at  the  action  of  Madden  and  some  of  those  he  had 
induced  to  oppose  the  measure."  What  the  Chief  Execu- 
tive then  did  to  renew  the  contest  was  fully  described  by 
the  daily  papers  and  reveals  the  extraordinary  character 
of  the  political  life  of  the  city  at  that  time.  "The  very 
men  whom  the  Mayor  had  looked  to  for  support  failed 


110  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

him,"  said  one  paper;  *4he  had  been  generous  in  his 
patronage  to  these  very  men,  and  his  anger  knew  no 
bounds  when  he  heard  of  their  action.  At  two  of  them 
he  was  especially  angry,  for  he  had  loaded  them  down 
with  political  favors  and  allowed  them  to  draw  on  his 
resources  to  pay  their  political  debts.  He  vowed  he 
would  not  brook  their  opposition  and  would  show  them 
who  was  Mayor  by  cutting  off  their  patronage.  Yester- 
day afternoon  and  this  morning  the  Mayor  has  been 
quietly  at  work  getting  the  rebellious  Aldermen  around 
again  to  his  way  of  thinking.  This  morning  another  con- 
ference was  held  and  as  a  result  the  Aldermen  who 
opposed  the  ordinance  will  now  vote  for  it.  They  were 
simply  given  to  understand  that  if  they  could  not  be  with 
the  Administration  they  could  not  expect  any  favors  and 
that  the  favors  that  had  already  been  granted  them  would 
be  withdrawn.  The  threat  was  effective  and  the  Alder- 
men became  submissive.  The  ordinance  will  be  sent  in 
again  and  this  time  it  will  be  passed." 

This  was  in  the  beginning  of  September,  1891.  At 
the  next  meeting  of  the  Council  the  bill  was  again  intro- 
duced. An  instructed  man  was  in  the  chair.  The  meas- 
ure was  no  sooner  read,  the  echo  of  the  last  word  still  in 
the  air,  than  Mr.  Madden  was  on  his  feet  at  his  place 
with,  4tMr.  Chairman!" 

The  Chairman  nodded  to  him  and  automatically 
responded:  4t  The  gentleman  from  the  Fourth  Ward. " 
Before  he  could  finish  what  he  intended  to  say,  like  a 
shot  there  was  hurled  out  a  motion  for  the  previous 
question.  Now,  such  a  motion,  carried,  absolutely  cut 
off  all  debate,  even  a  remark.  There  were  sixty-seven 
votes   ready   to  be  plumped  for  the  motion;    not  only 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  111 

ready,  but  impatient.  The  impatience  rapidly  grew  to 
fury  when  it  was  seen  that  Madden  remained  on  his  feet, 
pointing  to  the  chair  and  continuing  his  call,  i4Mr.  Chair- 
man!" He  was  white,  but  cool  and  calculating,  with  his 
whole  head  on  his  shoulders. 

A  great  cry  arose  all  around  him,  and  for  a  while 
there  was  a  perfectly  riotous  denunciation  of  his  appar- 
ent opposition  to  the  wishes  of  the  whole  body.  When 
the  babel  of  * 'Voter  "Vote!"  "Question!"  "Question!" 
finally  took  a  breathing  spell  for  a  fresh  start,  the  mem- 
ber from  the  Fourth  was  still  erect.  Seizing  his  oppor- 
tunity he  sent  out  straight  and  clear  the  cry:  "Mr. 
Chairman,  the  motion  for  the  previous  question  is  not  in 
order!"  That  was  the  most  astounding  thing  the  other 
members  thought  instantly  they  had  ever  heard  in  that 
hall.  A  motion  for  the  previous  question,  made  as 
theirs  had  been,  not  in  order!  They  looked  at  one 
another  so  amazed  that  silence  overcame  them,  wonder- 
ing "What  next!" 

"No,  Mr.  Chairman,  the  motion  for  the  previous 
question  is  not  in  order,  because  you  gave  me  the  floor, 
and  while  I  have  it  no  motion  is  in  order." 

This  was  a  revelation  to  the  whole  house.  Madden 's 
word  was  positively  indisputable  when  given  for  a  fact, 
to  every  member  of  that  Council,  and  they  knew  he  was 
faultless  as  a  parliamentarian.  Here  he  was  saying  the 
floor  had  been  given  to  him.  They  had  not  seen  that, 
and,  as  if  by  a  common  instinct,  they  held  still  to  see 
how  it  was. 

The  Alderman's  action  was  quick.  "Before  the  last 
word  of  that  proposed  measure  had  lost  its  sound,  on  my 
feet  I  addressed  you  in  the  words,  'Mr.  Chairman/  and 


112  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

you  responded,  beckoning  to  me,  'The  gentleman  from 
the  Fourth  Ward.'     Did  you  not?" 

44 1  did,"  answered  the  Chairman. 

"That  recognition  was  a  recognition  of  my  desire 
to  speak,  and  it  legally  gave  me  the  floor  for  the  purpose  of 
saying  what  I  had  to  say.  It  gave  it  before  the  first 
word  of  the  motion  for  the  previous  question  was  uttered. " 

He  was  right.  The  whole  house  instantly  perceived 
it  after  the  Chair's  admission,  and  not  a  sound  was  now 
uttered  from  any  other  place. 

"Therefore,"  continued  Madden,  "the  motion  for  the 
previous  question  is  not  in  order.  Neither  that  motion, 
nor  any  other  motion,  can  be  lawfully  made  while  I  have 
the  floor,  nor  until  I  have  finished  what  I  have  obtained 
the  floor  to  say.  I  have  not  very  much  to  say,  and  when 
I  am  through  I  will  move  the  previous  question,  as  it  is 
very  evident  no  one  else  desires  to  speak.  It  is  plain 
all  the  other  sixty-seven  votes  in  this  body  are  ready  to 
be  cast." 

There  was  not  a  man  there  who  was  not  both  relieved 
and  glad  over  what  was  said.  Madden' s  service  and 
character  had  been  such  that  his  bitterest  opponent  in 
the  Council  would  have  been  sorry  to  find  him  in  actual 
error,  and  every  one  of  them  would  have  sincerely  regret- 
ted if  his  conduct  in  setting  up  against  them  had  proven 
simply  factious.  He  had  never  in  the  hall  been  either 
disputatious  or  wrong.  He  had  always  been  right  and 
always  reasonable.  He  was  both  now.  They  would  abso- 
lutely have  applauded  him,  even  in  their  opposition,  such 
was  made  their  humor  in  the  quick  comprehension  of 
his  attitude,  but  they  were  seized  with  an  overpowering 
wish  to  hear  what  next  he  had  to  say. 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  113 

He  seemed  to  concentrate  his  powers  of  wit,  expres- 
sion and  character  into  a  description  of  the  night  immor- 
ality, crime,  violence,  corruption  and  official  shameless- 
ness  that  flaunted  their  evil  upon  the  world  as  synony- 
mous of  Chicago  life.  The  story  he  told  made  many  of 
even  the  most  experienced  of  his  auditors  blush  with 
shame  for  the  government  under  which  their  children 
were  going  to  school,  and  before  the  end  of  it  the  major- 
ity had  begun  to  shrink  from  participation  in  any  share 
of  guilt  for  the  infamy.  When  every  eye  was  riveted 
upon  him  and  every  form  bent  his  way,  in  manifest  sym- 
pathy, he  concluded: 

"I  have  been  told  by  the  Chief  Executive  of  the  city 
that  in  this  legislature,  where  the  town  laws  are  all 
made,  the  vote  upon  this  bill  is  arranged  to  be  sixty* seven 
to  one  in  favor  of  its  passage.  Such  a  vote,  if  cast,  will 
demonstrate  to  mankind  that  it  is  impossible  to  stop  the 
evil  dragging  us  all  down,  as  the  city  legislature  is  prac- 
tically unanimous  for  its  continuance.  If  you  are  all  for 
it,  why  not  let  it  alone?  If  you  want  it,  you  are  certain 
of  having  it  without  taking  any  action  at  all.  You  cannot 
doubt  that  it  will  continue.  The  Administration  could 
stop  it  by  executing  the  present  state  law  which  forbids 
it.  But  the  Administration  will  not  execute  the  state  law, 
because,  like  you,  the  Administration  desires  a  continu- 
ance of  the  present  condition.  So  you  both  want  it. 
You  both  wish  it  to  continue.  You  have  the  assurance 
that  it  will  continue  without  any  action  on  your  part. 
The  introduction  of  this  ordinance  by  the  Mayor  shows 
that  he  is  committed  to  continuance.  There  is,  then,  no 
need  for  any  action  on  your  part.  You  have  what  you 
want,  and  you  have  executive  assurance  that  you  will 

8 


114  MARTIN   B.  MADDEN 

continue  to  have  it.  Then  why  take  any  action?  If  you 
take  the  action  proposed  you  gain  nothing,  but  you 
assume  responsibility  which  there  is  no  reason  for  your 
taking  and  that  will  give  you  no  gain.  As  things  are  the 
Mayor  is  solely  responsible  for  the  open  dives.  If  you 
pass  this  ordinance  you  assume  the  responsibility  which 
he  now  bears  alone.  He  will  then  be  free  and  you  will 
carry  the  whole  load,  and  you  will  gain  nothing,  for  he 
is  committed  to  carrying  what  there  is  no  excuse  for  you 
to  bear,  except  his  desire  to  get  rid  of  it  and  to  put  it  on 
your  shoulders.  You  'now  have  the  condition  you  wish 
without  blame,  and  you  have  assurance  that  it  will  con- 
tinue without  any  responsibility  on  your  part.  The 
Mayor  desires  the  condition  the  same  as  you  do,  and,  like 
yon,  he  wishes  its  continuance.  But  now  he  has  the 
blame  for  it,  and  in  the  future  he  will  have  the  responsi- 
bility. He  wishes  to  escape  both  the  present  blame  and 
the  future  responsibility,,  I  ask  you  to  refuse  to  accept 
either,  there  being  no  necessity  for  you  to  do  it  and  noth- 
ing to  be  gained  by  you  in  doing  it.  Let  both  remain 
where  they  are  now,  upon  the  Mayor.  Think  how 
much  better  it  will  be  to  have  but  one  man  in  this  city 
responsible  for  these  things,  than  to  have  the  whole  com- 
munity, through  you  sixty-seven  gentlemen,  committed 
to  their  continuance,  when,  if  you  like  them,  you  are  just 
as  sure  of  having  them  without  a  single  one  of  you  being 
to  blame. " 

Mr.  Madden  then  moved  the  previous  question  and  the 
ordinance  was  defeated  by  a  majority  of  ten. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


REFUSES    MAYORALTY     THREE     TIMES — NOMINATES    RIVAL — SACRI- 
FICE  FOR   PURE   BALLOT. 


IN  1893  Mr.  Madden  accepted   renomination.     In  this 
campaign  he  defeated  his  Democratic  opponent  by  a 
majority  of  2,000. 

The  World's  Fair  was  now  about  to  open  and  the 
pressure  of  the  work  pertaining  to  it  upon  the  officials 
responsible  for  the  vast  enterprise  was  appalling.  Mr. 
Madden  had  during  his  past  term  in  the  Council  been 
Chairman  of  the  Aldermanic  Fair  Committee.  He  had 
had  the  direction  of  the  legislation  coyering  the  city's 
relations  to  the  enterprise,  and  it  had  been  his  task  to  see 
that  all  the  transportation  companies  were  impartially 
encouraged  to  extend  their  facilities  to  the  grounds  in 
every  possible  way  without  obtaining  any  permanent 
encroachment  on  popular  rights.  He  had  in  the  previous 
January  been  sent  on  a  committee  to  Washington  to 
obtain  from  Congress  permission  to  have  the  Exposition 
open  on  Sunday,  and  was  now  elected  Chairman  of  the 
committee  appointed  to  entertain  the  city's  guests  during 
the  Fair.  In  this  office  he  was  obliged  to  arrange  for  the 
proper  reception  of  all  foreigners  invited,  both  when  they 
landed  on  American  soil  and  when  they  reached  Chicago; 
see  that  they  were  suitably  entertained  while  in  the  city, 
and  then  superintend  their  departure.  The  social  and 
the  official  characteristics  of  all  nationalities  had  to  be 

115 


116  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

ascertained  and  constantly  borne  in  mind  during  this 
work.  Special  programmes  had  to  be  studied  out  and 
carried  through  for  the  guests  representing  each  different 
people.  Some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  cosmopolitan 
character  of  the  task  from  such  facts  as  these:  Day  and 
evening  entertainments  were  provided  every  day  for  five 
weeks  for  the  eighty  officers  sent  to  represent  the  differ- 
ent navies  of  the  Old  World.  Scrupulous  adherence  to 
Spanish  royal  etiquette  had  to  be  observed  in  receiving, 
entertaining  and  adieuing  the  Princess  Eulalia  and  the 
Duke  of  Veragua,  and  this  had  to  be  nicely  differentiated 
from  the  character  of  reception  expected  by  the  Lord- 
Mayor  of  Dublin.  Not  only  were  distinguished  guests 
from  all  foreign  countries — European,  African  and  Asiatic 
— entertained  in  the  manner  they  were  accustomed  to  at 
home,  but  Americans  from  every  state  and  country  on 
the  continent  were  also  suitably  received  and  treated. 
This  work  was  constant,  day  and  night,  during  the  whole 
period  of  the  Exposition — six  months.  Not  one  social 
"break"  was  made  in  it  during  all  that  time.  All  over 
the  world  the  praises  of  Chicago  as  a  model  host  were 
sounded.  General  Nelson  A.  Miles,  Commander  of  the 
United  States  Army,  served  on  Mr.  Madden's  staff,  to 
lend  his  aid  to  the  proper  entertainment  of  military 
guests,  and  men  of  similar  standing  and  knowledge  in 
other  walks  of  life  served  to  assist  in  the  work  of  caring 
for  other  official  visitors.  It  is  said  that  every  one  of  the 
scores  of  programmes  made  out  by  Madden  during  the 
Fair  was  correctly  drawn  up  and  followed  out. 

After  the  Exposition  had  been  open  for  a  few  weeks 
the  attendance  was  found  to  be  insufficient.  Madden's 
financial  talent  was  called  upon  for  a  remedy.     He  at 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  117 

once  devised  the  competition  of  the  " Great  Days."  This 
allotted  to  each  commonwealth  in  the  Union  a  State  Day 
at  the  Fair,  and  apportioned  the  remaining  days  to  the 
larger  cities,  setting  aside  the  Fourth  of  July  as  the 
Nation's  Fete  Day.  The  plan  incited  intense  rivalry  in 
attendance  between  the  states,  and  afterwards  among  the 
cities,  and  filled  the  grounds  and  saved  the  show.  The 
rivalry  between  New  York  City  and  Chicago  was  phe- 
nomenal, and  assembled  the  two  largest  crowds  ever 
gathered  at  any  exhibition  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

The  Chairman  of  the  Entertainment  Committee  did 
not  spend  many  hours  in  repose  while  the  Columbian 
Fair  was  open.  He  has  said  that  the  hardest  work  he 
ever  did  was  done  in  that  six  months. 

Mr.  Carter  H.  Harrison,  Mayor  of  Chicago,  was 
assassinated  on  Oct.  28,  1893.  The  Columbian  Exposition 
was  at  the  very  height  of  its  popularity,  and  the  tragedy 
produced  intense  excitement.  There  was  no  clear  legal 
provision  in  the  city's  charter  arranging  for  an  immediate 
succession.  It  was  very  unfortunate  that  this  was  so,  for 
never  in  the  history  of  the  city  had  it  been  more  neces- 
sary to  have  the  government  continuously  conducted. 
When  the  lawyers,  who  were  called  on  for  advice, 
divided  on  the  question  as  to  whether  the  Chairman  pro 
tern,  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  automatically  succeeded 
to  the  powers  of  the  office  until  a  new  Mayor  could  be 
elected,  or  whether  the  Board  had  the  power  to  elect  one 
of  its  members  to  assume  the  temporary  duties,  the  situ- 
ation became  threatening.  Then  the  citizens  realized 
how  fortunate  the  municipality  was  in  the  character  of 
the  men  who  were  leaders  in  the  local  legislative  body. 


lib  MARTIN   B.  MADDEN 

These   men  held  the  government  well  in  hand  and  pre- 
vented anarchy. 

Mayor  Harrison  had  been  elected  on  the  first  of  the 
preceding  April  for  a  term  of  two  years.  The  charter 
plainly  called  for  a  new  election  when  the  office  became 
vacant  during  the  first  year  of  the  term,  but  it  made  no 
provision  at  all  for  a  vacancy  caused  by  death.  It 
simply  enacted  that  when  a  vacancy  in  the  office  occurred 
during  the  first  year  a  new  election  should  be  had  to  fill 
the  office,  without  specifying  when  it  should  be  called. 
As  elections  could  not  be  ordered  without  thirty  days 
notice  to  the  electors,  the  conditions  placed  the  situation 
under  the  control  of  the  Aldermen.  They  could,  appar- 
ently, postpone  action  to  suit  themselves,  and  if  they 
decided  they  had  the  power  to  fill  the  office  for  the  time, 
they  could  put  into  the  Mayor's  chair  one  of  their  own 
members  and  keep  him  there  an  indefinite  period. 

The  Council  at  the  time  was  composed  of  thirty-eight 
Republicans  and  thirty  Democrats.  As  party  leader 
in  the  city  and  Chairman  of  the  Republican  City  Central 
Committee,  Mr  Madden  had  done  more  than  any  other 
citizen  to  effect  the  change  in  the  town's  politics  which 
had  resulted  in  Republican  control  of  its  legislation.  The 
Democrats  felt  that  the  office  of  Mayor  belonged  of  right 
to  their  party,  as  Mr  Harrison  was  a  Democrat,  and  when 
he  died  had  left  eighteen  months  unexpired  of  the  term 
which  the  voters  had  entrusted  the  party  to  fill.  The 
disposition  was  to  resist  by  every  art  of  filibustering  any 
attempt  of  the  majority  in  the  Board  of  Aldermen  to 
take  advantage  of  their  numerical  strength.  A  caucus  was 
held  at  the  city  hall  to  agree  on  a  line  of  action.  The 
spokesman  designated  to  announce  the  result  said:  "We 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  119 

would  be  satisfied  with  Alderman  Madden  as  Mayor  pro 
tern,  if  the  Republicans  take  advantage  of  their  power  to 
elect  one,  but  with  no  other  man  in  his  party  in  the 
Board.  We  would  overlook  the  straining  of  the  law  on 
the  part  of  the  Councillors,  if  they  select  Mr.  Madden. 
He  has  been  agreed  upon  by  the  Democrats  as  the  only 
acceptable  Republican  Alderman  for  the  filling  of  the 
vacant  office  until  an  election  can  be  held.  No  other 
man  in  the  Council  possesses  his  qualifications  for  the 
office  of  Mayor.  He  can  secure  the  co-operation  of  the 
Council,  which  is  Republican,  with  the  present  heads  of 
the  departments  in  the  city  government,  all  of  whom  are 
Democrats.  He  is  better  acquainted  with  the  finances  of 
the  city  than  any  other  person  connected  with  municipal 
affairs,  not  even  excepting  the  Comptroller,  who  is  a 
Democrat.  Mr.  Madden  has  never  allowed  himself  to  be 
swayed  by  partisan  considerations  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duties  as  Alderman.  For  that  reason  the  Democrats  in 
the  Council,  as  well  as  the  heads  of  departments,  are  dis- 
posed to  gracefully  acquiesce  in  his  rule  and  support  and 
co-operate  with  him  if  his  party  elect  him  to  fill  Mr.  Har- 
rison's place,  although  we  realize  that  if  Mr.  Madden 
takes  the  place  pro  tern,  it  will  make  him  the  next  Mayor 
by  election. "  The  caucus  nominated  Mr.  John  McGillen, 
the  Chairman  of  their  City  Central  Committee  and  a 
member  of  the  Board,  to  be  their  Aldermanic  candidate 
for  Mayor  pro  tern,  in  case  the  majority  concluded  to 
attempt  a  selection. 

The  Republicans,  as  well  as  their  Democratic  cor- 
leagues,  in  the  Council  were  divided  on  the  legal  aspects 
of  the  problem.  Mr.  Madden  was  the  leader  of  the 
Republicans  in  the  Board.   His  party  in  the  city  had  been 


120  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

for  a  long  time  practically  committed  to  him  as  the  next 
Republican  candidate  for  the  office  of  Mayor  He  was 
pressed  to  take  it  now  by  Aldermanic  election.  He  hesi- 
tated to  do  that,  because  he  doubted  the  Council's  right 
to  choose.  Ex-Commissioner  of  Public  Works,  George  B. 
Swift,  another  important  member  of  the  Board,  and  a 
leader  whose  Republican  following  had  been  urging  him 
forward  as  a  Mayoralty  candidate,  had  no  doubts  as  to 
the  Council's  right  to  put  a  successor  to  Mr.  Harrison  in 
the  Executive  office.  He  not  only  believed  the  Board 
had  the  right  to  do  this,  but  he  publicly  advocated  the 
immediate  doing  of  it  to  preserve  the  continuity  of  the 
administration  of  civic  affairs.  The  result  of  his  agita- 
tion was  that  the  Council  concluded  to  elect  a  Mayor  pro 
tern.,  the  citizens  manifesting  a  disposition  to  endorse  the 
act. 

When  the  Council  met,  therefore,  on  the  Saturday 
following  the  assassination,  Nov  4,  1893,  two  resolutions 
were  introduced  and  passed.  One  called  tor  a  popular 
election  of  Mayor  on  the  19th  of  December  following, 
and  the  other  for  an  immediate  election  from  among  the, 
members  of  the  Board  of  a  Mayor  pro  tern. by  ballot.  The 
Democrats  nominated  Alderman  John  McGillen  and  the 
Republicans,  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Madden,  put  up  Alder- 
man Swift.  When  the  ballots  were  counted  the  report- 
ing teller  said:  "Mr.  Chairman,  we  find  that  there  were 
cast  in  all  sixty-eighc  votes.  Of  these  Swift  received 
thirty-four,  McGillen  thirty-three,  and  one  was  blank. " 

For  a  moment  there  was  a  breathless  silence.  If  the 
teller  had  not  used  the  word  sixty-eight,  but  had  reported 
sixty-seven  ballots  cast,  Mr.  Swift  would  have  been 
declared  elected.    Counting  the  blank  deposited  as  a  vote 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  121 

cast,  arrayed  thirty-four  votes  against  the  Republican 
candidate.  The  chair  was  occupied  by  Mr.  McGillen, 
who  instantly  perceived  his  party's  opportunity.  He 
quickly  declared  there  was  no  election,  as  neither  candi- 
date had  received  a  majority  of  the  sixty-eight  votes 
polled.  This  decision  provoked  a  row  that  eventually 
degenerated  into  a  riot.  The  trouble  was  kept  up  all 
day.  The  Republicans  sided  with  Swift  and  made  his 
cause  theirs.  But  he  did  not  succeed  in  changing  the 
result.  The  unfairness  of  the  decision  against  him,  how- 
ever, produced  such  an  effect  on  the  people  that  there  was 
an  unmistakable  popular  demand  for  its  withdrawal.  On 
the  following  Monday  evening  the  Democrats  in  the 
Council  retreated  from  their  previous  position  and  per- 
mitted Mr.  Swift  to  be  elected  Mayor  pro  tern.  He 
qualified  on  November  9th,  assumed  the  office  on  the 
10th,  and  served  until  December  29th. 

Mr.  Madden  at  once  declined  to  allow  his  name  to  be 
put  forward  as  the  Republican  nominee  for  the  December 
election.  He  insisted  that  Mr.  Swift,  by  the  unfair  action 
of  the  Democrats  in  the  Council,  had  been  made  the 
party's  logical  candidate.  Under  no  circumstances,  he 
said,  would  he  permit  the  use  of  his  own  name  in  the 
conditions  existing  at  the  time.  The  decision  discon- 
certed many  of  the  Finance  Chairman's  party  adherents. 
They  were  absolutely  sure  of  being  able  to  elect  him  to 
the  chief  office  in  the  city,  because  of  his  general  popu- 
larity and  the  widespread  desire  to  have  at  the  official 
head  of  municipal  affairs  just  such  a  man  as  his  public 
conduct  had  shown  him  to  be.  They  had  calculated  to 
run  him  at  the  end  of  Mayor  Harrison's  term,  when  it 
expired  on   March   31,    1895,   and  had  no  doubt  of  their 


122  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

ability  to  elect  him  against  even  Harrison  himself.  Now 
that  the  opportunity  was  presented  of  putting  him  up 
against  a  weaker  man,  they  were  sorely  disappointed  at 
his  refusal  to  enter  the  race.  " Don't  you  want  the 
office?'*  he  was  asked.  "You  may  have  it  for  the  trouble 
of  reaching  out  for  it. " 

"Yes,  I  would  like  to  be  Mayor  of  Chicago,"  he 
answered,  "and  I  believe  that  I  would  be  elected  if  I 
should  be  nominated.  But  the  nomination  belongs  to 
Mr.  Swift  by  right.  I  could  not  take  it.  That  would  be 
countenancing  what  our  party  has  pronounced  fraud 
against  Mr.  Swift.  Let  us  all  turn  in  and  elect  him  and 
in  that  way  punish  and  stamp  out  unfair  politics. " 

At  the  Republican  Convention,  held  on  December  2d, 
Mr.  Madden,  as  party  leader,  presided.  When  he  called 
the  body  to  order  he  named  Mr.  Swift  as  the  man  who 
was  to  be  nominated,  and  urged  the  party  to  do  all  in  its 
power  to  elect  him,  and  thus  place  itself  on  record  as  the 
party  of  fair  dealing  in  city  affairs.  Mr.  Swift  was  nom- 
inated. The  Democrats  named  as  his  opponent  John  P. 
Hopkins.  When  the  ballots  were  counted,  on  the  night 
of  December  19th,  the  contest  was  found  to  have  been 
close,  and  the  count  resulted  in  the  declaration  that  the 
Democratic  candidate  had  been  chosen  to  fill  out  Mr. 
Harrison's  term  by  a  majority  of  1,100.  He  took  offic^ 
on  December  29,  1893. 

The  result  was  not  only  disappointing,  it  was  irritat- 
ing, to  the  majority  of  Republicans  in  the  city.  It  was 
now  generally  believed  by  them  that  Madden  would 
easily  have  defeated  Hopkins.  When  the  latter  assumed 
office  he  did  not  gain  in  popularity.  He  rapidly  lost 
because  of  his  palpable  political  use  of  his  place.      The 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  123 

Madden  movement  was  revived  and  gained  strength  until, 
during  the  summer  and  fall  of  1894,  it  was  taken  for 
granted  that  he  would  be  his  party's  nominee  in  the 
spring  of  1895,  and  be  elected  by  a  great  majority,  no 
matter  who  ran  against  him,  but  especially  if  Mr.  Hop- 
kins should  oppose  him.  Mr.  Madden  did  not  hesitate  to 
allow  the  use  of  his  name,  and  he  did  all  he  honorably 
could  to  further  the  movement  in  his  interest.  He  made 
no  concealment  of  his  willingness  to  be  Mayor  of  Chi- 
cago, and  never  hesitated  to  declare  the  policy  he  would 
adopt  and  carry  out  if  elected.  Every  such  declaration 
he  made  added  to  his  popularity  and  political  strength. 

The  friends  of  Mr.  Swift  refused  from  the  beginning 
to  accept  Mr.  Hopkins's  election  as  honestly  obtained. 
They  pointed  out  evidences  of  fraud  in  the  count  and 
went  to  work  intelligently  and  systematically  to  unearth 
the  criminality.  Republicans  outside  the  immediate 
circle  of  his  friends  regarded  these  efforts  for  a  long  time 
with  impatience  as  the  work  of  indiscreet  party  men  to 
keep  a  discredited  candidate  before  the  public  as  a  legacy 
upon  the  party's  fidelity.  The  Swift  men,  however,  per- 
sisted in  their  endeavors.  By  December,  1894,  they  had 
made  out  a  complete  case,  and  were  able  to  convince  the 
public  that  Mr.  Swift  had  carried  the  election  the  year 
before  by  a  substantial  majority. 

At  this  time  the  Republicans  were  busily  preparing 
for  their  nominating  convention,  which  was  to  be  held  in 
February,  to  name  their  city  ticket  for  the  Mayoralty 
election  in  April.  There  was  no  serious  talk  of  anyone 
to  head  the  ticket  but  Mr.  Madden.  He  had  become 
interested  in  the  Swift  investigation.  When  he  learned 
of  the  disclosures  his  colleague  in  the  Council  was  pre- 


124  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

pared  to  make,  he  carefully  examined  into  the  whole 
case.  He  concluded  from  discoveries  he  made  that 
Swift  had  beaten  Hopkins  by  about  4,000  majority,  and 
had  been  counted  out  of  the  office  of  Mayor  of  Chicago. 
At  once  he  determined  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  rectify 
the  wrong.  He  realized  that  there  was  no  redress  at 
law  for  Mr.  Swift,  as  Hopkins  could  delay  any  proceed- 
ings towards  ousting  beyond  the  remaining  duration  of 
his  term. 

The  Forty  Club,  a  social  political  organization  in  the 
city,  had  invited  Mr.  Madden  to  address  it  at  a  banquet 
to  be  given  on  the  evening  of  December  20th.  He  had 
accepted  the  invitation,  and  as  the  time  approached  he 
made  up  his  mind  to  use  the  opportunity  for  making  pub- 
lic his  discoveries  in  the  Hopkins-Swift  case.  The  news- 
papers carefully  reported  the  entertainments  at  the  club, 
and  would  afford  a  vehicle- for  the  publication  of  what  he 
might  have  to  say. 

The  evening  came  and  the  guests  and  the  reporters. 
At  the  dinner  the  toastmaster  at  length  proposed  "The 
health  of  Martin  B.  Madden,  the  next  Mayor  of  Chicago.  " 

When  the  cheers  greeting  him  as  he  arose  had  ceased, 
Mr.  Madden  thanked  his  hosts  for  their  welcome  and 
their  wishes,  and  then  said:  "Much  as  1  might  like  to  be 
the  Chief  Magistrate  of  this  great  city,  I  am  compelled  to 
announce  to  you,  gentlemen,  that  I  shall  not  be  the  next 
Mayor  of  Chicago.  It  is  my  duty  to  make  a  Christmas 
present  of  the  Republican  nomination  for  that  office, 
which  this  year  will  be  the  certainty  of  election  to  it,  to 
the  Hon.  George  B.  Swift." 

The  auditors  were  spell-bound.  The,y  could  not  real- 
ize for  a  few  moments  that  they  had  heard  aright.     Mr. 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  125 

Madden  then  told  them  of  what  had  been  ascertained  by 
the  Swift  investigation.  These  discoveries,  he  said,  made 
it  the  duty  of  every  good  Republican,  as  well  as  every 
good  citizen,  of  Chicago  to  do  the  utmost  in  his  power  to 
publicly  condemn  the  crime  that  had  robbed  Mr.  Swift 
of  the  office  and  the  honor  the  public  had  conferred  upon 
him.  The  sacredest  thing  in  American  public  life  was 
the  integrity  of  the  ballot.  Every  institution  in  the 
country  every  phase  of  its  legal,  political  and  national 
life,  depended  for  its  welfare  upon  the  quality  of  the 
suffrage.  To  attack  the  purity  of  the  ballot  was  to 
poison  American  life  at  its  very  source.  It  was  the 
worst  of  all  public  crimes  and  the  most  far-reaching.  It 
was  so  abhorrent  that  no  citizen  should  rest  a  moment 
when  action  could  either  punish  it  or  prevent  it.  In  the 
present  case  every  sacrifice  should  be  made  to  repair  the 
wrong  done,  as  well  as  to  put  the  seal  of  public  con- 
demnation upon  the  crime.  The  best  way  to  do  both  was 
to  again  nominate  Mr  Swift  for  the  Mayoralty,  and  then 
elect  him  by  such  a  large  majority  that  no  corruption 
could  overcome  it.  The  result  would  vindicate  the 
injured  man  in  the  only  way  vindication  could  at  all  make 
amends,  and  it  would^  at  the  same  time  warn  the  crim- 
inals in  the  only  way  public  condemnation  could  affect 
them. 

This  speech  profoundly  moved  the  club  and  as  pro- 
foundly stirred  the  public  when  spread  before  it  next 
day.  Mr  Madden  followed  his  oral  declaration  by  a 
card  to  the  people.  In  this  he  announced  his  retirement 
from  the  candidacy  as  a  protest  against  fraud  at  the  bal- 
lot box  and  as  an  act  of  possible  reparation  for  Mr.  Swift. 

In  this  remarkable  case  there  was  not  the  smallest 


126  MARTIN   B.  MADDEN 

opportunity  for  any  kind  of  doubt  that  a  man  was  sacri- 
ficing a  great  post  for  a  principle.  -The  candidate  retir- 
ing had  a  certainty  of  success  by  a  phenomenal  majority. 
His  act  was  an  absolute  presentation  of  the  office  of 
Mayor  of  Chicago,  by  a  man  as  ambitious  to  have  it  as 
any  man  could  be,  to  a  political  rival  he  believed  entitled 
to  it  as  an  act  of  justice,  but  who  might  not  receive  the 
gift,  much  as  he  desired  it,  with  any  feeling  of  gratitude. 
Such  donations  have  provoked  enmity  of  the  most  injuri- 
ous and  lasting  nature  in  the  history  of  the  human  race. 

"He  won't  thank  you  for  it.  He  will  resent  your  act 
as  an  effort  to  detract  from  his  ability  to  get  the  office 
without  your  assistance,"  was  said  by  an  influential 
Republican  leader. 

44 1  can't  help  what  Mr.  Swift  does  about  my  con- 
duct," answered  Madden;  <4all  I  know  is  I  have  been  a 
candidate  for  a  nomination  that  belongs  to  him.  When 
I  found  out  that  he  was  entitled  to  what  I  was  after, 
there  was  nothing  for  me  to  do  but  at  once  stop  my  pur- 
suit. What  he  may  think  about  my  conduct  has  nothing 
whatever  to  do  with  it.  It  was  not  regulated  by  his 
thoughts,  but  by  my  own.  I  thought  I  had  no  right  to 
the  nomination,  and  that  he  had  every  right  to  it.  That 
being  so,  what  else  could  I  do  but  what  I  have  done?" 

"Yes,  but  you  are  a  stronger  candidate  than  Mr. 
Swift  is.  Your  election  was  certain.  His  is  not.  It 
would  be  better  for  the  city  to  have  Republican  govern- 
ment. Your  nomination  would  have  insured  that.  His 
does  not  insure  it.  Your  retirement  jeopards  Republican 
success.  It  is  an  injury  to  the  party  and  to  the  city,  too; 
a  greater  injury  than  has  been  done  to  Swift." 

**The  injury  to  Swift,"  answered  the  Alderman,  "is 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  L27 

the  minor  consideration  in  the  affair.  By  all  means  it 
should  be  repaired,  as  it  can  be,  by  nominating  him 
again.  The  main  thing  is  the  outrage  on  the  suffrage. 
If  Hopkins  be  renominated,  his  contest  will  be  one  for 
endorsement  of  the  alleged  false  count.  His  defeat  by 
the  victim  of  that  count  will  be  the  only  possible  kind  of 
defeat  that  will  be  unmistakably  a  public  condemnation 
of  the  crime  charged.  A  defeat  by  any  other  candidate, 
myself,  say,  might  be  ascribed  to  many  other  causes 
than  a  public  desire  to  punish  offense  against  the  purity 
of  the  ballot.  A  defeat  by  Swift  cannot  be  ascribed  to 
anything  else  than  such  public  desire.  It  is  essential  that 
Swift  be  the  Republican  nominee,  not  because  he  is 
Swift,  but  because  he  alone  personifies  the  cause  for 
which  the  party  must  make  the  fight— -the  integrity  of 
the  ballot.     That  is  the  whole  issue.  "* 

The  retirement  of  Mr.  Madden  concentrated  public 
attention  upon  the  ballot  question  and  made  certain  Mr. 
Swift's  nomination  without  opposition. 

The  Republican  Convention  was  held  on  Feb.  21, 
1895.  As  Chairman  of  the  Party  Central  Committee,  Mr. 
Madden  presided.  To  make  the  position  he  had  assumed 
and  had  concluded  to  continue  clear  beyond  cavil,  he  had 
gone  into  the  convention  with  325  of  the  545  delegates 
entitled  to  vote  on  the  nominations  at  his  back — a  major- 
ity of  eighty-five.  For  the  third  time  he  placed  Mr. 
Swift  in  nomination  for  the  office  of  Mayor  of  Chicago, 
and  in  a  powerful  speech  stated  his  claims  and  urged 
united  action  in  his  support.  The  nomination  was 
accorded  by  a  unanimous  vote. 

The  magnanimity  of  the  political  conduct  of  the  Alder- 
man from  the  Fourth  Ward  in  this  whole  episode  was  so 


128  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

decidedly  in  the  interests  of  the  public  that  the  citizens 
rallied  to  the  support  of  the  Republican  ticket  at  once. 
The  indications  of  popular  support  were  so  unmistakable 
that  the  Democrats  decided  not  to  meet  the  issue  that 
would  assuredly  result  from  the  renomination  of  Mr. 
Hopkins.  They  attempted  to  escape  by  putting  up  as 
their  candidate  a  new  man,  who  had  not  been  identified 
in  any  way  with  the  election  scandal,  and  they  nomi- 
nated Mr.  Frank  Wenter.  He  was  so  decisively  defeated, 
the  majority  against  him  being  40,000,  that  there  was 
no  attempt  at  false  counting. 

In  that  campaign  Mr.  Madden  stumped  the  entire  city 
for  Swift,  making  several  speeches  each  night,  and  doing- 
managerial  campaign  work  during  the  day.  He  con- 
tributed towards  the  success  of  the  ticket  more,  perhaps, 
than  any  other  one-man. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


MEETS    UNPARALLELED    ABUSE    FOR    PUBLIC    SERVICE — ELOQUENT 
PARLIAMENTARY    SPEECH. 


THE  most  dangerous  strike  that  ever  threatened  the 
safety  of  a  large  city  in  the  United  States  was  the 
Debs  outbreak  in  Chicago  in  the  spring  of  1894.  The 
grievances  leading  to  it  lay  in  those  economic  differences 
of  opinion  regarding  wages  and  hours  of  work,  which  are 
characteristic  of  the  unsettled  and  unscientific  relations 
existing  in  all  modern  civilization  between  capital  and 
labor.  The  trouble  would  probably  have  been  early 
adjusted  in  ordinary  times.  But  the  period  was  full  of 
troublesome  elements.  The  panic  in  the  manufacturing 
trade,  precipitated  by  the  change  in  the  tariff  laws  in 
1893,  had  thrown  several  million  men  out  of  employment. 
These  included  not  only  the  skilled  and  unskilled  laborers 
who  had  been  engaged  in  the  closed  factories,  but  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  others  who  had  now  nothing  to  do 
because  of  the  stoppage  in  the  business  of  transporting 
raw  material  to  the  shops  and  finished  products  away 
for  distribution.  The  Columbian  Exposition  had  attracted 
scores  of  thousands  of  the  idle  to  Chicago,  where  for  the 
brief  period  of  six  months  they  had  found  some  means 
of  living.  The  Fair  over,  the  city  was  swarming  with 
stranded  and  desperate  men.  The  general  industrial  sit- 
uation grew  worse  as  the  winter  advanced,  and  by  the 
middle  of  spring  the  western  metropolis  seethed  with 
9  129 


130  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

social  discontent  and  thq  breedings  of  anarchy.  For 
every  bit  of  employment  that  would  yield  even  bread 
there  were  many  desperate  applicants.  Tens  of  thou- 
sands of  strong  men  never  thought  of  being  able  to  earn 
both  food  and  bed ;  they  slept  on  the  grass  in  the  parks 
and  on  the  turf  between  the  walks  and  curbs.  It  was  all 
many  employers  could  do  to  find  business  sufficient  to 
run  their  establishments  enough  hours  every  day  to  keep 
the  machinery  from  rusting.  In  such  a  time  to  seek 
increase  of  wages  was  considered  insane,  and  to  resist 
any  reduction  meant  tramping.  Nothing  but  an  indus- 
trial explosion  could,  it  seemed,  prevent  a  revolution. 
The  Debs  railway  men's  strike  brought  the  explosion. 
It  prevented  formal  attempt  at  revolutionary  measures 
by  giving  anarchy  other  vents.  During  the  progress  of 
the  strike  there  was  discovered,  just  in  time  to  prevent 
its  execution,  a  conspiracy  to  destroy  the  city  by  a  con- 
flagration to  be  started  in  many  widely  separated  locali- 
ties simultaneously. 

Alderman  Madden,  as  Chairman  of  the  Republican 
Central  Committee,  had  thoroughly  traversed  the  town ; 
as  a  life-long  associate,  friend  and  employer  of  working- 
men,  his  attention  everywhere  was  directed  to  what  was 
going  on  and  what  was  threatened.  When  he  became 
convinced  that  precautionary  measures  energetically 
taken  on  a  vast  scale  would  alone  prevent  the  destruction 
of  the  city,  he  called  upon  the  Mayor  and  Chief  of  Police 
and  advised  them  about  the  whole  situation.  Both 
seemed  astonished  and  would  not  believe  the  facts  for 
some  time.  At  length,  however,  the  city  government 
arranged  to  increase  the  police  force  by  320  patrolmen 
and  about  500  substitutes.    The  Alderman  agreed  to  have 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  131 

the  City  Council  appropriate  money  for  these  extra  men 
during  the  emergency. 

When  the  strike  was  at  its  worst  the  merchants  and 
tax-payers  petitioned  the  Federal  Government  to  come  in 
and  save  the  city,  as  the  state  and  local  authorities  were 
totally  unable  to  do  it.  President  Cleveland  found  occa- 
sion to  interfere,  in  the  conduct  of  the  strikers  stopping 
the  movement  of  trains  hauling  United  States  mail 
through  the  town.  In  the  name  of  all  the  people  of  the 
country  he  sent  troops  to  protect  the  passage  of  the 
mails,  and  he  sent  enough  to  suppress  the  whole  trouble. 

By  September  the  strike  was  over.  The  general 
condition  of  the  city  was  then  much  betted  than  before. 
The  Federal  soldiers  had  scared  away  from  the  entire 
locality  most  of  the  dangerous  temporary  population. 
When  the  City  Council  then  voted  $90,000  as  a  special 
appropriation  to  pay  the  extra  policemen  their  dues,  it 
passed  an  order,  on  Mr.  Madden's  motion,  to  reduce  the 
police  expenditures  by  dismissing  the  320  extra  officers. 
The  Mayor  by  law  had  the  right  to  veto  any  order  passed 
by  the  Council,  and  his  veto  could  not  be  overcome  except 
by  a  two-thirds  councilmanic  vote.  He  vetoed  this 
order,  giving  as  a  reason  that  any  action  by  the  Council 
ordering  a  reduction  of  the  police  force  was  an  interfer- 
ence with  the  prerogative  belonging  solely  to  the  Chief 
Executive.  The  Republicans  in  the  Council  had  but 
thirty-seven  votes,  and  as  the  Democrats  in  the  Board 
stood  united  by  the  Mayor,  the  veto  could  not  be  overrid- 
den. The  issue  was  then  joined  and  it  raised  perhaps  the 
worst,  the  most  prolonged,  and  the  most  scandalous  leg- 
islative storm  that  ever  excited  the  people  of  the  city, 
for  they  all  took  part  in  it  before  it  was  over.  .    - 


132  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

The  management  of  the  contest  in  the  Board  against 
the  Mayor  fell  upon  the  Alderman  from  the  Fourth  Ward, 
as  leader  of  the  majority  and  Chairman  of  the  Finance 
Committee.  As  matters  developed  he  gradually  appeared 
to  be  alone  in  the  fight.  It  was  not  thought  he  either 
could  or  would  maintain  his  position.  The  people  were 
unquestionably  with  the  police,  and  the  police  to  a  man 
were  with  the  Mayor.  He  was  a  candidate  for  renomi- 
nation  in  the  coming  spring,  and  at  the  time  the  struggle 
was  begun  Mr.  Madden  was  the  only  man  thought  of  by 
the  Republicans  as  their  Mayoralty  nominee.  The  people 
of  the  city  were  much  dissatisfied  with  the  Democratic 
management  of  municipal  affairs  and  the  majority  of 
them  had  been  looking  to  the  Finance  Chairman  to  lead  in 
the  fight  for  the  Mayor's  overthrow. 

The  Alderman's  attitude  produced  much  bitterness  all 
around.  Many  accused  him  openly  of  throwing  the 
election  away  in  advance  by  playing  straight  into  the 
Mayor's  hands.  If  Mr.  Madden  had  been  a  politician 
he  would  have  at  once  yielded.  Even  an  ordinary  hon- 
est man  might  have  felt  compelled  to  do  that  under  the 
circumstances.  But  the  member  from  the  Fourth  was 
not  a  politician.  He  was  a  citizen  and  a  business  man 
acting  in  a  representative  capacity  for  the  citizens  of  his 
own  ward  and,  as  Chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee, 
for  all  the  people  of  the  town.  In  his  mind  it  was  per- 
fectly clear  that  the  Mayor  had  no  right  to  the  320  police- 
men and  that  the  Council,  therefore,  had  no  right  to  pay 
out  public  money  for  their  salaries.  It  was  the  Board's 
duty  to  refuse  the  money  and  secure  the  dismissal  of  the 
men.  As  leader  of  the  Council  and  head  of  its  Finance 
Committee  it  was  his.  duty  to  see  that  both  were  done. 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  133 

That  was  all  there  was  to  it.  He  set  himself  to  the  task 
without  any  regard  to  the  results  to  himself. 

He  asked  his  colleagues  to  vote  down  the  veto.  They 
refused  to  do  it.  The  Mayor  kept  the  men.  They  were 
assured  of  their  salaries. 

In  October  the  question  of  the  salaries  again  came 
before  the  Council.  Mr.  Madden  refused  the  money  and 
had  another  order  passed  demanding  that  the  Chief  of 
Police  reduce  his  force.  The  Mayor  vetoed  this  as  he 
had  the  other. 

The  same  thing  was  done  in  November  and  again  in 
December. 

As  soon  as  it  was  found  that  the  September  salaries 
for  the  new  men  would  not  be  paid  by  the  Finance  Com- 
mittee, the  Chief  of  Police,  in  order  to  keep  them,  ordered 
that  every  man  on  the  force  be  allotted  a  vacation  of  ten 
days  without  pay.  The  money  thtis  saved  he  used  to 
pay  the  extra  men,  without  exceeding  the  regular  appro- 
priation for  police  purposes,  which  was  in  the  Comp- 
troller's hands  and  subject  to  monthly  drafts  made  by 
the  Chief.  Mr.  Madden  having  ordered  the  Comptroller 
not  to  allow  the  regular  appropriations  to  be  overdrawn, 
the  department  had  no  way  of  raising  money  to  pay  the 
unappropriated  salaries  but  that  of  curtailing  expenses, 
and  the  reduction  of  ten  days'  pay  per  man  on  vacation 
account  produced  what  was  wanted. 

The  victory  was  now,  to  all  appearances, so  decidedly  in 
favor  of  the  Administration  that  the  disheartened  Repub- 
lican voters,  seeing  the  prospective  control  of  the  city  gov- 
ernment slipping  from  their  grasp,  besought,  then  tried  to 
coerce,  and  finally  attempted  to  destroy  the  Alderman  as 
party  leader.     Through  the  press  they  denounced  him  in 


134  v     MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

violent  language  and  demanded  that  he  cease  attempting 
to  .act  as  Mayor  of  the  town  and  permit  the  actual  officer 
to  manage  civic  affairs.  One  of  the  papers  accused  him 
of  having  sold  the  party  out  to  the  Mayor  for  a  consider- 
ation. Some  of  the  district  leaders  spread  the  report 
that  he  had  really  deserted  the  party  and  was  carrying 
out  an  agreement  to  make  the  Mayor's  renomination  and 
election  inevitable  by  keeping  him  on  the  popular  side 
and  drawing  public  odium  on  the  Republicans.  News- 
papers called  him  a  self-appointed  czar,  dictator  and 
tyrant.  They  openly  charged  him  with  corruption.  One 
went  so  far  as  to  say  he  had  used  his  position  in  the 
Council  to  play  the  Republican  party  into  the  Mayor's 
hands  for  influence  in  the  department  of  public  works  for 
the  purpose  of  making  money  by  unloading  upon  the  city 
inferior  stone  from  the  quarries  he  managed.  This  story 
contained  the  circumstantial  allegation  that  he  had  got 
the  city  to  buy  from  him  $2,500,000  worth  of  material  at 
an  enormous  profit.  Prominent  editors  called  attention 
to  the  Alderman's  happy  financial  circumstances,  and 
suggestively  asked  how  it  was  that  he  had  increased  his 
wealth  so  rapidly  since  he  had  become  leader  in  the 
Council.  Every  franchise  ordinance  that  had  been 
obtained  from  the  Board  of  Aldermen  was  attributed  to 
his  alleged  cupidity.  The  "boodle"  bills  that  were 
passed  during  his  absence  were  said  to  have  been  engi- 
neered by  him,  and  it  was  hinted  that  he  took  considera- 
tion for  being  away  to  facilitate  their  enactment.  There 
was  not  one  newspaper  on  his  side.  The  columns  of 
every  one  of  them  were  open  to  every  species  of  attack 
upon  him  and  closed  to  all  defense. 

Then  the  police  were  set  upon  him.     The  roll  at  this 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  135 

time  had  upon  it  the  names  of  nearly  4,000  men.  Every- 
one of  them  was  working  at  reduced  pay,  and  believed 
Madden  was  the  sole  cause  of  it.  The  entire  force  were 
inspired  to  act  as  detectives  upon  his  whole  career  and 
spies  upon  his  everyday  movements,  and  to  try  to  drive 
him  out  of  public  life  by  scattering  and  exaggerating 
everything  they  could  dig  up  possible  to  use  in  the  work 
of  inflaming  the  public  mind  against  him. 

One  day  a  delegation  of  carefully  picked  men  from 
the  police  department  waited  upon  the  Alderman  in  his 
private  office  to  ask  him  to  alter  his  attitude.  Their 
language  was  so  uncivil  and  their  threats  so  open  and 
insulting  that  it  became  impossible  to  discuss  the  ques- 
tion with  them,  and  they  were  on  the  point  of  being 
ordered  out,  when  they  revealed  the  fact  that  they  had  a 
memorial  with  them.  This  was  a  formidable  document. 
It  was  signed  by  a  majority  of  the  large  business  firms 
in  the  city  and  petitioned  the  Chairman  of  the  Finance 
Committee  to  cease  his  attempts  to  cut  down  the  police 
force,  because  the  town  needed  it  all  for  patrolling  pur- 
poses; and  to  stop  compelling  the  men  to  work  for  les- 
sened pay,  as  it  diminished  their  spirit  and  demoralized 
their  service.  It  was  too  evident  that  the  signers  of  this 
concoction  had  either  not  read  it  or  were  ignorant  of  the 
actual  state  of  affairs,  and  Mr.  Madden  felt  it  to  be  his 
duty  to  talk  to  the  deputation. 

He  began  by  telling  them  that  he  was  personally 
acquainted  with  everyone  of  the  signers,  and  that  he 
knew  perfectly  well  that  when  they  put  their  names  to 
that  paper  they  did  it  knowing  he  would  do  the  right 
thing,  whether  that  was  to  desist  from  his  opposition  to 
the  Mayor  or  continue  it.     Then  he  pointed  out  that  the 


136  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

Mayor's  conduct  in  forcibly  docking  the  salaries  of  the 
men  on  the  force  was  an  act  of  pure  despotism  without 
any  justification  whatever,  and  done  to  illegally  swell 
out  the  Administration's  patronage  at  the  financial 
expense  of  the  regular  policemen.  Each  man's  salary 
was  fixed  by  law  and  could  not  be  reduced  by  the  Mayor 
without  committing  an  act  of  extortion.  Ten  days*  pay 
had  been  forced  from  each  man  for  no  purpose  but  that 
of  finding  money  to  hire  new  men  illegally.  The  regular 
men  had  to  submit  to  this  or  lose  their  places.  The 
Council  was  trying  to  befriend  the  old  policemen;  it  was 
the  Administration  that  was  oppressing  them.  The 
deputation  went  away  with  new  light  and  it  opened  their 
minds. 

Then  the  city's  great  editor  called  and  wished  to  know 
why  the  Alderman  "carried  on"  as  he  was  doing.  "Mr. 
Medill,"  he  answered,  "if  you  entrusted  me  with  the 
financial  management  of  your  paper  during  a  period  when 
you  could  not  personally  be  appealed  to,  the  most  effect- 
ive way  you  could  equip  me  to  protect  your  interests 
would  be  that  of  entrusting  me  with  the  giving  out  of  the 
checks  for  the  expenses  authorized  to  be  incurred  for  the 
establishment,  wouldn't  it?" 

"Yes, "  replied  the  editor. 

"Well,  then,  it  would  be  my  duty  to  refuse  to  give 
any  out  for  unauthorized  and  unnecessary  bills?" 

"It  certainly  would." 

"These  320  policemen  were  put  on  the  force  for  the 
specified  period  of  two  months,  or  longer  if  the  strike 
continued  beyond  that  time.  An  appropriation  to  cover 
that  special  and  specified  expense  was  made.  The  strike 
is  over  and  the  appropriation  is  exhausted.       The  term 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  137 

for  which  the  extra  policemen  were  engaged  has  expired, 
and  they  are  no  longer  legally  in  the  city's  employ,  nor 
is  there  any  necessity  for  hiring  them.  I  am  Chairman 
of  the  city's  Finance  Committee  and  may  be  said  to  have 
the  giving  out  of  the  checks.  All  I  have  been  author- 
ized to  give  out  for  the  extra  police  service  have  been 
paid  out.     What  right  have  I  to  pay  out  any  more?*' 

4  *  None  whatever,"  replied  Mr.  Medill.  .  "I  am  with 
you  on  that  proposition.  But  your  attitude  has  been 
misunderstood.  The  Tribune  will  try  to  remove  the 
misapprehension."     It  did  and  was  effective. 

Then  public  sentiment  began  to  change  by  enlighten- 
ment. The  police  on  the  regular  force  found  nothing  in 
Mr.  Madden's  career  that  could  be  twisted  into  con- 
demnation, and  the  men  were  not  long  in  changing 
about  in  their  view  of  him.  From  being  the  greatest 
engine  of  persecution  ever  set  against  one  man  in  public 
life,  the  force  became  as  a  whole  his  strongest  supporter 
and  most  efficient  agent  in  vindication. 

No  man  in  the  Board  of  Aldermen  was  for  one  moment 
deceived  by  any  of  all  the  slander.  They  all  knew  that 
their  colleague  had  a  record  beyond  reproach.  He  had 
never  sold  any  stone  to  the  city,  not  a  dollar's  worth; 
had  never  been  personally  interested  in  any  franchise 
given  or  ordinance  passed ;  had  never  once  supported  or 
voted  for  any  measure  not  perfectly  clean;  had  never 
absented  himself  from  a  session  possible  for  him  to 
attend;  and  had  been  such  a  powerful  foe  to  all  kinds  of 
vicious  bills  that  most  of  those  that  ever  passed  had  been 
suddenly  introduced  and  rushed  through  when  it  was 
found  he  would  be  away.  In  the  Council  whatever 
opposition  existed  against  him  was  either  that  of  party 


138  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

policy  or  party  expediency.  His  Republican  colleagues 
stood  nobly  by  their  duty  as  he  pointed  it  out,  and  grad- 
ually solidified  themselves  into  a  majority  always  sup- 
porting him. 

But  the  Mayor  kept  the  police.  His  success  in  retain- 
ing them  in  spite  of  the  Alderman's  persistent  attempts 
to  have  them  dropped  still  continued  to  fool  a  majority 
of  the  taxpayers.  They  thought  the  Administration  was 
engaged  in  a  desperate  effort  to  save  the  regular  force  of 
patrolmen  from  being  reduced.  With  the  memory  of 
the  awful  days  of  the  strike  still  fresh,  this  looked  like  a 
noble  action  in  the  public  interest.  On  the  other  hand 
it  seemed  as  if  the  Alderman  was  trying  to  cripple  the 
Administration  by  cutting  down  its  police  revenue,  so  that 
it  could  not  have  the  thoroughfares  sufficiently  guarded. 
It  was  necessary,  a  mind  like  Mr.  Madden's  reasoned, 
to  defeat  the  Executive  in  a  way  that  would  completely 
expose  the  entire  situation  to  every  tax-payer's  compre- 
hension. The  difficulty  of  obtaining  or  of  creating  an 
opportunity  to  do  this  successfully  was  great.  The 
Mayor  would  hardly  risk  taking  any  action  that  would 
let  it  appear  he  was  trying  to  increase  the  force;  it  was 
more  probable  he  would  remain  inactive,  trusting  that 
any  action  the  majority  in  the  Council  might  take  would 
continue  to  be  in  the  direction  of  dismissing  the  extra 
men.  That  would  always  look  to  the  people  like  effort 
to  decrease  the  police  force  and  cut  down  the  patrolling 
of  the  streets. 

The  Alderman  never  failed  to  use  all  his  opportunities 
among  his  party  brethren  in  the  Council  for  the  spread 
of  the  arguments  buttressing  his  position.  When  the 
first   of  the   New  Year  approached,    he  pointed  out  to 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  139 

them  that  the  entire  fund  obtained  by  the  Chief  of  Police 
by  the  vacation  reduction  of  pay  would  be  exhausted 
early  in  January.  Then  it  would  be  necessary  to  find 
new  means  of  meeting  the  salaries  of  the  extra  officers, 
and  a  crisis  might  be  looked  for.  The  Republican  vote 
in  the  Council  was  kept  in  full  attendance. 

At  one  of  the  sessions  in  January  Alderman  Gallagher, 
acting  for  the  Executive,  to  every  one's  astonishment 
offered  an  ordinance  instructing  the  heads  of  departments 
to  ignore  the  repeated  monthly  orders  of  the  Board  to 
keep  expenditures  within  the  regular  appropriations. 
At  most  other  times  the  proposed  ordinance  would  have 
been  looked  upon  as  innocent  enough  and  attracted  no 
especial  notice.  But  with  observation  strained  over 
every  Executive  act,  it  was  perceived  instantly  that  here 
was  at  last  an  attempt  on  the  Mayor's  part  to  take  the 
initiative  for  securing  legality  for  the  surreptitious 
increase  of  the  police  force.  If  the  Gallagher  ordinance 
were  passed,  all  the  previous  orders  to  dismiss  the  new 
men  would  be  nullified.  They  might  then  be  retained 
and  an  expectation  be  founded  that  the  Council  would 
make  a  new  appropriation  for  their  pay.  It  looked  as  if 
the  Mayor  had  concluded  that  public  opinion  was  now 
sufficiently  aroused  in  favor  of  his  conduct  to  warrant 
belief  that  it  would  change  the  Council's  attitude. 

In  an  instant  Alderman  Madden  was  on  his  feet.  He 
had  just  what  he  desired  and  had  waited  for  nearly  five 
months.  It  was  an  opportunity  to  effectively  bare  the 
whole  conspiracy,  and  at  the  same  time  have  the  Mayor's 
entire  action  officially  declared  illegal.  Realizing  that 
what  he  now  might  say  would  be  spread  before  every 
reader  in  Chicago  next  day,  he  was  spurred  into  one  of 


140  .  MARTIN  B.  MADDENT 

those  compact,  complete,  carrying  orations  which  so  often 
distinguished  his  legislative  career.  He  moved  that  the 
Gallagher  resolution  be  placed  on  file  and  the  action  of 
the  Finance  Committee,  in  its  January  and  other  notices 
to  the  police  department  to  keep  its  expenditures  within 
the  regular  appropriation,  be  concurred  in.  He  pointed 
out  that  by  placing  it  on  file  the  Mayor's  motion  would 
be  practically  shelved  until  the  majority  chose  to  take  it 
off  file,  and  that  by  voting  to  concur  in  the  Finance  Com- 
mittee's action  the  Council  would  officially  legalize  it 
without  having  the  committee  bring  it  before  the  body 
in  the  usual  form  of  a  report.  A  report  that  the  com- 
mittee had  ordered  the  Chief  of  Police  to  discharge  the 
extra  men,  if  brought*  in  and  approved  by  the  Council, 
would  become  an  order.  This  the  Mayor  could  veto, 
and  as  there  were  not  enough  Republican  votes  in  the 
Board  to  sustain  the  order  over  the  veto,  the  whole  ques- 
tion would  remain  open  as  before.  But  as  the  Mayor 
had  himself  brought  the  entire  subject  before  the  Council 
by  the  Gallagher  resolution  to  instruct  the  heads  of 
departments  to  ignore  the  Finance  Committee's  order, 
the  passage  of  the  motion  to  concur  in  that  committee's 
action,  and  at  the  same  time  file,  would  legalize  the  order 
to  retrench  as  well  as  declare  the  Mayor's  retention  of 
the  extra  police  unlawful,  without  passing  an  order  or 
doing  anything  else  that  the  Mayor  could  veto,  or  reach 
by  any  Executive  action.  The  proceeding  would  result 
in  making  the  defeat  of  the  Mayor  simply  a  matter  of 
record,  and  he  could  in  no  way  interfere  with  that.  By 
asking  the  Council  to  instruct  the  departments  to  ignore 
its  previous  orders  to  keep  expenditures  within  the 
appropriations,  the  Mayor  was  petitioning  the  Board  to 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  141 

rescind  its  several  commands  to  the  Police  Department 
to  dismiss  the  men  for  whose  retention  there  was  no 
appropriation.  The  request  was  one  to  legalize  the 
keeping  of  the  extra  men.  The  mere  making  of  such  an 
application  was  an  Executive  admission  that  the  reten- 
tion of  these  officers  was  not  yet  legal  and  that  they  had 
been  kept  on  the  force  for  five  months  unlawfully.  The 
refusal  of  the  request  would  have  to  be  accepted  as  con- 
clusive proof  that  the  further  keeping  of  them  would  be 
illegal  and  would  cause  their  instant  dismissal.  How 
came  these  men  on  the  pay  roll?  The  speaker  had  him- 
self brought  it  about.  He  had  directed  the  attention  of 
the  Administration  to  the  danger  of  the  impending  riots 
before  the  trouble  broke  out,  and  had  urged  increased 
patrol.  He  had  undertaken  to  have  the  Council  make 
a  special  appropriation  to  cover  the  emergency,  and  that 
action  alone  had  made  it  possible  to  temporarily  increase 
the  force.  The  Council's  action  had  created  the  320 
extra  offices  for  the  Police  Department  to  fill.  They  were 
created  for  the  specified  period  of  two  months,  and 
became  void  at  the  expiration  of  that  time.  No  execu- 
tive power,  or  any  other  power  than  that  of  the  Board  of 
Aldermen,  could  rightfully  extend  the  duration  of  any 
one  of  these  offices  one  day  beyond  that  period.  No 
power  but  the  legislative  power  of  the  Board  could  add 
one  official  place  to  the  pay  roll  or  take  one  away.  The 
Council  every  year  fixed  the  number  of  policemen  to 
be  employed  by  the  city,  and  fixed  the  particular  salary 
each  one  of  them  was  to  get,*  from  the  Chief  down. 
The  pay  of  every  officer  was  specified  by  law,  belonged 
to  him  by  law,  and  could  neither  be  reduced  nor  enlarged 
by  any  power  but   that  of  the  Board  while  the  man 


142  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

retained  his  place.  The  Council  had  ordered  the  Hayor 
to  add  320  patrolmen  to  the  force  for  the  period  of  two 
months.  It  had  specified  that  they  were  to  be  patrol- 
men, and  it  had  appropriated  the  sum  necessary  to  pay 
them  patrolmen's  salaries  for  two  months,  and  no  longer. 
At  the  end  of  that  time  the  power  that  put  these  men  on 
the  force  ordered  them  taken  off,  there  being  no  further 
need  for  their  services.  The  matter  should  have  ended 
there.  But  the  Mayor  refused  to  decrease  his  patronage 
and  kept  the  men.  When  he  could  not  secure  a  contin- 
uation of  their  salaries,  he  compelled  the  legitimate 
policemen  to  pay  it  by  an  enforced  subscription  of  ten 
days'  salary  from  each  man.  This  was  done  through 
the  subterfuge  of  an  enforced  ten  days'  vacation  without 
pay.  Every  dollar  of  this  money  belonged  by  law  to  the 
men,  and  the  taking  of  it  from  them  was  an  act  of  unlaw- 
ful spoliation.  This  forcing  of  money  from  the  regular 
police  was  done  to  get  a  fund  to  further  break  the  law 
by  hiring  employes  forbidden  by  the  law  to  be  in  the 
public  service.  When  the  extorted  sum  was  used  up  in 
this  unlawful  spoilsmanship  other  amounts  belonging  to 
the  police  fund  were  unlawfully  expended  for  the  main- 
tenance of  it  until  the  department's  appropriation  had 
been  exceeded  $1 10,000.  Every  effort  ingenuity  was  able 
to  devise  had  been  used  to  deceive  the  tax-payers  about 
the  proceeding.  The  Finance  Committee  was  bound  to 
see  that  the  moneys  appropriated  by  the  Council  were 
expended  economically  and  in  the  work  for  which  they 
were  specifically  bestcrwed.  When  it  insisted  on  this 
conduct  in  the  expenditure  of  the  police  funds,  the 
Administration  succeeded  in  persuading  the  public  to 
resent  what   it  took  for  an  attempt  to  lessen  the  com- 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  143 

munity's  safety  by  reducing  the  police  force.  There  was 
no  attempt  to  lessen  the  force,  only  a  resistance  to  the 
increase  of*  it  by  unlawful  means.  When  the  already 
underpaid  regular  police  were  forced  to  give  up  ten  days' 
pay  per  man,  they  were  made  to  feel  that  it  was  a  sacri- 
fice advanced  to  preserve  the  integrity  of  the  force. 
When  the  Council  made  no  appropriation  either  to  refund 
the  men  this  squeeze  or  to  cover  the  enlarged  criminal 
expenditure,  the  men  were  made  hostile  to  the  city's 
legislature  and  indifferent  to  their  duty  of  enforcing  ordi- 
nances. They  were  convinced  the  Council  was  specially 
unfriendly  to  them,  was  attempting  to  burden  each  over- 
worked man  with  more  labor  by  compelling  a  less  num- 
ber to  do  it  all,  and  was  trying  to  compel  men  to  quit  the 
service  by  making  the  receipt  of  salaries  uncertain  and 
cutting  down  the  appropriation.  The  real  truth  was,  the 
Board  had  been  struggling  to  secure  each  man  his  full 
pay  and  regularity  in  getting  it  by  preventing  diversion 
of  the  ample  police  fund.  If  the  city  had  plenty  of 
money,  the  speaker  would  oppose  increasing  the  number 
of  city  employes  without  good  reason.  If  the  treasury 
were  bursting  he  would  not,  while  he  was  at  the  head  of 
the  Finance  Committee,  permit  any  official  to  put  one 
man  on  the  pay  roll  tmless  the  Council  first  created  a 
place  for  that  man  and  appropriated  a  salary  for  him. 
He  would  use  every  power  available  to  him  as  party 
leader,  as  member  of  the  Council,  and  as  director  of  the 
expenditure  of  the  tax  money,  to  prevent  the  Mayor,  or 
any  other  official,  from  forcing  the  city  to  pay  unlawful 
salaries,  whether  they  numbered  320,  as  in  the  present 
case,  or  but  one.  That  was  the  position  he  had  taken 
and  held  during  this  entire  controversy.     It  was  the  only 


144  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

one  an  honest  man  could  take.  It  was  the  one  he  meant 
to  continue,  no  matter  what  the  consequences  might  be 
to  himself.  For  these  he  had  no  right  to  care.  But  he 
besought  the  other  members  to  stand  by  him  for  the 
city's  sake. 

This  speech  produced  a  profound  impression.  It 
stirred  the  spectators  into  an  uproar  of  applause  and 
brought  thirty-seven  votes  to  his  side  to  uphold  him  in 
any  action  he  might  take.  To  the  executive  party  in 
the  chamber  it  was  a  revelation.  They  saw  it  was  then 
or  never  with  the  Mayor's  scheme.  They  rushed  frantic 
into  a  fight  as  if  for  life.  They  moved  for  a  division  of 
the  Alderman's  motion,  arguingMt  was  two  in  one. 
They  insisted  on  having  it  made  into  a  motion  to  file  and 
one  to  conciir.  But  Madden  had  anticipated  this,  and 
shown  that  a  motion  to  concur  would  make  it  necessary 
to  have  his  committee  bring  the  matter  before  the  house 
in  a  report,  which  concurrence  then  the  Board  would 
transfer  into  an  order  that  the  Mayor  could  veto.  Now 
the  matter  was  before  the  house  by  the  Mayor's  own 
action  in  the  Gallagher  resolution.  The  motion  to  divide 
was  voted  down  amid  the  wildest  excitement.  The  only 
hope  of  the  administration  party  was  now  in  adjournment. 
A  motion  to  adjourn  was  made  and  declared  carried  by 
the  Chair,  occupied  for  the  occasion  by  an  administration 
selection,  in  spite  of  a  roll  call  demanded  by  the  major - 
it}'.  This  gave  the  Democrats  an  excuse  for  leaving  and 
attempting  to  destroy  the  quorum  necessary  for  the  trans- 
action of  business.  They  rushed  for  the  doors  and  a  few 
got  out,  through  the  connivance  of  the  janitor,  who 
swung  the  portals  wide.  The  Republicans  carried  the 
roll   call  through,   showing  the  motion  to  adjourn  had 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  145 

been  defeated  and  that  the  house  was  still  in  full  ses- 
sion, and  then  by  force  attempted  to  save  the  quorum 
present  by  preventing  further  desertion.  In  the  encoun- 
ter which  resulted,  the  quorum  was  saved.  The  defeated 
and  whipped  minority  refused  to  vote.  But  they  were 
present.  Their  number  made  the  voting  legal,  and  Mr. 
Madden 's  motion  was  carried  by  thirty-seven  votes, 
those  belonging  to  the  twenty-three  prisoners  not  being 
cast.  The  struggle  had  lasted  four  hours  and  was  per- 
haps as  great  in  the  parliamentary  skill  and  eloquence 
brought  into  play  as  any  that  ever  was  witnessed  in  any 
deliberative  body. 

The  Mayor  gave  up  the  contest  and  the  police  force 
resumed  its  normal  and  legal  condition.  The  men  soon 
realized  the  value  of  the  presence  of  a  just,  enlightened 
and  courageous  man  in  the  town  Council.  There  being 
no  "extras"  now  to  be  supported  by  "docking,"  the  reg- 
ulars received  their  full  salaries. 

The  Council  proceedings  were  fully  reported  in  all 
the  papers  next  day.  They  produced  such  a  revulsion 
of  feeling  among  all  classes  of  citizens  as  let  in  the  real 
truth  to  the  public  mind.  The  result  was  a  rally  to  the 
general  support  of  the  Alderman  from  the  Fourth  Ward. 
If  he  had  retained  any  desire  to  be  Mayor  of  Chicago  he 
could  have  had  the  Republican  noominatin  for  that  office 
for  the  ensuing  spring  election  and  would  easily  have 
defeated  the  Mayor,  who  was  arranging  to  run  for  re-elec- 
tion ,  or  any  other  man  the  Democrats  might  nominate. 
But  the  Alderman  had  retired  from  the  field  in  favor  of 
Mr.  Swift,  and  the  wholesome  political  effect  of  his  long, 
well-fought  struggle  for  the  tax-payers  went  to  another 
man. 

10 


CHAPTER  XV. 


STARTS  CIVIL  SERVICE   REFORM    MOVEMENT — FURNISHES   IT  ARGU- 
MENTS— MANY   NEW  IDEAS. 


jkjk  R.  MADDEN'S  experience  with  the  method  of  con- 
/  T 1  ducting  the  municipal  government  of  Chicago  con- 
vinced him  not  only  that  civil  service  reform  was  the  only 
available  method  of  correcting  the  evils  afflicting  the 
public  service,  but  that  its  immediate  adoption  was 
imperative.  It  held  out  the  means  of  eradicating  the 
disease  and  of  preventing  its  recurrence.  Every  Mayor- 
alty election  was  a  contest  for  20,000  salaries.  These 
were  good  for  two  years.  Few  of  them  were  to  be  earned 
by  giving  the  tax-payers  service  worth  the  wages 
received.  Most  of  them  were  paid  rather  for  the  value 
of  the  help  rendered  in  getting  the  Chief  Executive  his 
position,  or  for  the  activity  expected  in  procuring  him 
another  term.  The  employer  was  too  ostensibly  the 
Mayor  and  too  evidently  not  the  people  who  paid  the 
money.  The  official's  interest  in  the  expenditure  of  these 
20,000  salaries  could  not  but  be  largely  personal.  He 
naturally  accepted  his  election  under  the  system  as  a 
warrant  for  exploiting  himself  at  the  public  expense. 
His  adherents  looked  upon  themselves  as  in  his  pay,  in 
his  service,  at  his  command.  They  felt  bound  to  make 
themselves  as  valuable  to  him  as  they  could,  to  get  out  of 
him  as  much  as  possible,  and  to  prolong  their  opportuni- 
ties to  the  utmost. by  maintaining  him  in  the  place  of  dis- 

146 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  147 

tribution.  On  neither  side,  that  of  paying  out  the  wages 
or  that  of  receiving  them,  was  there  a  tithe  of  the  con- 
sideration for  the  tax-payer  that  there  was  for  the  dis- 
penser of  the  places.  The  cow  was  fed  for  the  milk  she 
would  yield.  She  might  desire  to  be  some  other  kind  of 
cow,  but  so  long  as  she  did  not  go  dry,  the  fellow  that 
filled  the  pail  did  it  solely  for  the  boss,  and  his  thoughts 
were  about  butter.  Her  ladyship  might  begrudge  that 
use  for  milk;  she'certainly  had  no  interest  in  butter;  but 
the  other  two  had,  and  was  she  not  in  their  hands? 

The  Alderman  concluded  that  if  the  tax-payers  should 
by  law  appoint  a  body  of  non-partisan  competent 
men  with  permanent  commission  to  control,  under 
proper  public  regulations,  all  appointments  and  dis- 
charges in  the  civic  service,  the  immediate  effect  would 
be  to  bar  out  from  public  employment  all  but  those  fitted 
to  enter  it.  This  would  result  at  once  in  the  formation 
of  a  new  class  of  men,  those  who  had  natural  aptitude  for 
public  work.  The  moment  it  should  be  established  that 
no  one  wrould  be  employed  in  civic  work  unless  competent, 
and  that  once  employed  a  public  servant  could  not  be 
dismissed  except  for  cause,  men  qualified  to  do  what 
tax-payers  paid  for  having  done  would  apply  for  the  task 
with  a  view  of  rendering  public  service  equivalent  for 
the  salaries  paid  and  making  of  it  a  life  occupation. 
These  would  undoubtedly  include  the  truly  worthy  among 
the  spoils  class,  but  it  would  exclude  the  parasites.  That 
in  itself  would  be  a  great  gain,  for  it  would  conserve  all 
that  was  worth  saving  of  the  pernicious  system  and 
destroy  the  rest.  It  would  keep  out  of  administrative 
office  men  with  nothing  but  personal  following,  and  put 
in   persons  solely  for  their    ability    to  -manage    public 


148  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

affairs.  It  would  prevent  re-elections  for  all  reasons  but 
those  of  continued  usefulness.  Not  only  that,  it  would 
reduce  taxes  by  making  impossible  any  public  expendi- 
ture except  for  actual  public  service.  While  all  the 
servants  the  city  paid  were  doing  nothing  but  city  work, 
there  would  never  be  employed  as  many  as  when  a  large 
part  of  their  time  had  to  be  devoted  to  the  political  in- 
trigue necessary  to  keep  the  Mayor  either  in  office  or 
before  the  public  as  a  big  personality. 

When  Mr.  Madden  announced  his  determination  to 
advocate  civil  service  reform  in  the  city  government  and 
to  do  all  in  his  power  to  bring  it  about,  he  was  at  once  beset 
by  every  kind  of  political  persecution  his  party  adver- 
saries could  devise  and  every  effort  at  dissuasion 
his  party  associates  could  invent.  The  result  was  a  dis- 
cussion seldom  equaled  for  the  skill  of  the  arguments 
brought  into  play.  One  prominent  political  authority 
held  that  the  Almighty  had  himself  given  the  first  and 
best  example  of  the  principle  that  to  the  victors  belong 
the  spoils.  Divine  service,  he  said,  was  induced  alto- 
gether by  expected  reward — no  one  " could  get  either 
a  seat  or  a  harp  except  by  loud  praise  and  effective  work. M 
The  member  from  the  Fourth  thought  this  logic  feeble, 
as  Love  of  Him  served  and  not  Expectancy  was  the  real 
inspiration  to  sound  religious  living.  If  not  profane  to 
institute  a  parallel  between  sacred  and  lay  things  it 
would  be  much  better  for  public  life  if  party  service  were 
attracted  by  pure  love  of  party  principles  than  by  hope 
of  office ;  and,  as  to  gratitude,  it  would  be  much  better  to 
have  men  grateful  to  their  party  than  to  any  individual 
of  it  for  political  favors  received,  and  better  yet  to  have 
them  grateful  to  their  country;  as  the  offices  belonged  to 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  149 

the  country,  and  when  they  were  bestowed  by  a  party 
they  never  were  the  personal  gift  of  the  official  instru- 
mental in  delivering  them. 

So  far  as  public  offices  were  in  the  gift  of  a  party,  he 
contended,  they  were  a  sort  of  wage-fund — the  only  kind 
of  currency  the  party  had  to  pay  its  hands  with ;  and  it 
was  just  as  dishonest  for  a  man  elected  by  a  party  to  an 
administrative  office  to  liquidate  his  personal  political 
debts  by  paying  them  out  of  the  party's  wage-fund  as  it 
would  be.  for  a  business  manager  to  pay  his  personal  obli- 
gations out  of  the  company's  safe.  In  both  cases  the 
wage-earners  might  be  deprived  of  their  earnings,  and 
in  the  end  both  the  party  and  the  company  would  fail 
because  unable  to  obtain  labor.  On  this  account  he 
thought  that  all  such  offices  as  Presidential  appointments, 
for  instance,  which  could  not  well  be  included  in  the 
civil  service  list,  as  the  filling  of  them  for  securing  that 
change  of  policy  called  for  by  national  elections  was 
necessary,  should  be  considered  a  sort  of  fund  belonging 
to  the  party  as  a  whole,  and,  with  few  exceptions,  like 
those  to  a  cabinet  and  the  principal  foreign  appoint- 
ments, should  be  at  the  disposal  of  the  organization  and 
never  within  the  exclusive  gift  of  either  the  President, 
Senators  or  Congressmen.  If  the  members  of  Congress 
were  allowed  to  control  these  appointments,  they  would 
more  often  be  used  for  personal  than  party  advantage, 
more  often  given  to  secure  individual  retention  in  place 
than  party  retention  in  power.  If  the  President  were 
permitted  to  bestow  them,  he  might  use  them  for  per-. 
sonal  ends  rather  than  for  party  advantage. 

The  nearest  approach  to  perfect  civil  service  reform 
in    the    bestowal    of    Presidential     places   possible,    Mr. 


150  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

Madden  urged,  would  lie  in  a  plan  that  would  prohioit 
the  appointment  to  any  of  these  of  any  person  except 
upon  the  certification  of  the  local  committee  of  the  party 
in  power  of  the  place  where  the  appointee  was  to  per- 
form his  work.  Such  a  plan  would  induce  the  best 
party  men  in  all  localities  to  be  active  in  committee 
work,  because  then  they  would  have  real  influence  in 
party  action.  They  would  see  to  it  that  in  their  local- 
ities the  most  deserving  as  well  as  the  most  efficient 
party  workers  got  the  places  at  the  party's  bestowal 
there.  Where  several  candidates  possessed  equal  ability, 
the  one  who  in  addition  had  that  of  best  serving  his 
party  when  it  was  entitled  to  service  in  the  office  would 
get  the  place.  In  this  way  alone  could  the  best  party 
service  be  everywhere  obtained,  because  it  would  assure 
proper  recognition  for  correct  zeal  everywhere,  and 
would  put  office-holders  in  debt  to  the  organization 
instead  of  to  individuals.  It  would  be  much  better  for 
the  country  as  well  as  for  the  party  in  power  to  have  all 
partisan  appointees  indebted  to  the  organization  for 
their  places  than  to  have  them  grateful  to  a  mere  Con- 
gressman, or  Senator,  or  even  a  President.  The  party 
was  bigger  and  more  important  than  either  or  all  three 
together.  It  was  the  party  which  was  elected  to  power 
and  not  any  individual  of  it,  and  the  place-holder's  obli- 
gation, where  it  could  not  go  to  the  country  as  a  whole, 
should  go  to  the  party  as  a  whole,  and  never  to  an  indi- 
vidual of  it.  Such  a  policy  would  also  relieve  Congress- 
men and  Senators,  as  well  as  Presidents,  of  not  only  a 
great  deal  of  useless  work  and  worry,  thereby  enabling 
them  to  attend  to  their  duties  better  and  with  more 
single-mindedness,  but  it  would  place  the  responsibility 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  151 

for  party  appointments  upon  those  to  whom  it  properly 
belonged — the  managers  in  the  localities  where  the  office- 
holders' work  was  to  be  done.  The  managers  would 
carry  this  responsibility  much  better,  as  a  rule,  than  ever 
it  had  been  borne  under  the  way  things  were  conducted 
now.  When  Presidents,  Senators  and  Congressmen 
should  be  confined  strictly  to  the  doing  of  the  work  they 
were  elected  to  do,  and  were  deprived  of  patronage  as  a 
means  of  getting  into  office  or  of  remaining  there  once 
in,  better  public,  work  would  be  done  and  better  men 
would  be  elected  to  do  public  work.  When  both  the 
great  parties  into  which  the  people  of  this  country  had 
always  been  divided  and  into  which  they  bid  fair  to 
remain  divided,  were  made  solely  responsible  for  the 
policies  they  advocated  by  having  entire  control  of  the 
selection  of  their  members  who  were  to  carry  it  out, 
then  only  would  party  government  reach  the  real  effi- 
ciency of  which  it  was  capable.  No  President,  no  Sena- 
tor, no  Congressman  that  ever  was  elected  to  office  pos- 
sessed either  the  ability,  the  knowledge,  or  the  inclination 
that  would  enable  him  to  select  as  good  a  postmaster, 
collector,  or  revenue  officer,  to  perform  federal  service 
in  any  locality,  as  were  possessed  for  that  purpose  by 
such  committees  of  residents  as  would  be  induced  to 
manage  party  interests  if  this  plan  of  political  home  rule 
were  generally  adopted.  It  would  be  ideal  civil  service 
reform  in  Presidential  appointments. 

Mr.  Madden  intimated  it  could  perhaps  be  success- 
fully contended  that  if  the  plan  he  suggested  for  the  reg- 
ulation of  Presidential  appointments  had  long  ago  been 
put  into  operation  for  all  federal  offices  by  both  parties, 
there  never  would  have  arisen  the  necessity  for  the  civil 


152  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

service  reform  which  within  recent  years  had  removed 
so  many  thousands  of  government  places  from  the  per- 
sonal control  of  public  men.  The  whole  evil  of  the  so- 
called  spoils  system  had  been  due  to  the  personal  element 
in  the  control  of  public  places.  It  was  the  same  element 
that  had  vitiated  the  public  service  in  municipalities.  It 
was  that  alone  that  had  brought  about  the  wretched  con- 
dition of  the  civil  service  in  Chicago. 

,  V Consider  the  situation  here,"  he  said.  "Our 
Mayors  have  personal  control  of  about  20,000  appoint- 
ments. They,  appoint  every  policeman,  fireman,  clerk, 
head  of  department,  street  sweeper,  jailer,  and  so  forth. 
All  these  men  are  at  the  absolute  mercy  of  the  Mayor. 
He  can  transfer,  suspend  or  dismiss  them — make  it  pos- 
sible for  them  to  earn  a  good  living,  a  poor  living  or  no 
livelihood  at  all.  The  fortunes  of  all  of  them  are  bound 
up  in  the  Mayor's  career.  If  he  desires  to  remain  in 
office,  they  must  all  spend  their  time  electioneering  for 
him  instead  of  serving  the  public  which  pays  their  sala- 
ries. When  their  time  is  in  this  way  partly  taken  up  in 
the  Mayor's  service,  either  the  public  work  is  neglected, 
or  more  people  are  required  to  do  it.  As  the  duration 
of  the  Mayor's  term  is  that  of  their  employment,  they 
are  more  likely  to  use  their  time  'feathering  their  nests' 
than  in  attending  to  their  duties.  If  the  Mayor  is  cor- 
rupt, they  are  more  so.  If  he  is  not  popular  enough  to  be 
assured  of  another  term,  they  increase  their  looting.  If 
he  is  an  open-town  man,  they  race  him  preying  on  vice. 
No  matter  what  the  Chief  Executive  may  be,  the  entire 
horde  cannot  be  good  public  servants,  because  they  are 
in  the  service  for  'what  there  is  in  it'  for  two  yearsi 
the   administration  term.      The   whole   thing   is  wrong 


PUBLIC   SERVANT  153 

from  top  to  bottom.  The  only  cure  is  civil  service 
reform.  We  must  take  all  these  appointments  away  from 
personal  control  and  put  them  under  public  control. 
That  can  only  be  done  by  putting  all  civic  appointments 
into  the  hands  of  a  public  body  which  shall  represent  the 
tax-payers,  select  the  public  employes  solely  for  their 
fitness  to  do  the  work  they  are  to  be  paid  for,  and 
appoint  them  for  life  or  good  behavior.  Every  fireman 
passed  should  be  assured  of  his  place  while  able  to  work. 
Every  policeman  selected  should  know  that  he  is  in  ser- 
vice for  life.  Every  fireman  and  policeman  should  be 
assigned  to  duty  in  the  district  where  he  has  decided  to 
live,  so  that  he  may  know  all  the  people  there  and  be 
able  to  distinguish  strangers. 

"They  should  not  be  compelled  to  pay  money  or  lose 
time  going  to  and  from  work.  They  should  know  that 
no  one  will  have  the  power  to  annoy  them  by  transfer, 
and  that  they  will  always  have  their  salaries  unimpaired 
by  any  deduction  so  long  as  they  do  their  duty,  and  that 
they  or  their  families  will  be  cared  for  if  they  are  injured 
in  the  public  service.  They  should  do  duty  entirely 
where  they  live,  because  their  interest  there  would  be 
greater  than  it  could  be  anywhere  else,  and  every  one  in 
the  locality  would  be  a  friend  and  ally  in  their  work. 
Criminals  would  be  less  likely  to  locate  or  dwell  in  neigh- 
borhoods where  policemen  live  as  well  as  work  than  in 
those  where  they  go  only  as  strangers.  There  should  be 
no  change  in  any  but  executive  officials  when  there  is  a 
change  in  Executives.  The  civil  service  should  'be  com- 
posed of  a  staff  that  has  been  composed  to  remain,  has 
been  selected  to  stay,  and  that  cannot  be  either  dis- 
turbed or  harried  in  any  way  by  any  change  in  the  mere 


154  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

Mayoralty.  It  should  be  the  well  selected  machinery 
for  the  running  of  the  business  of  the  city,  founded  to  go 
right  along,  irrespective  of  any  change  in  engineers. 
The  Mayor  should  be  simply  the  engineer  engaged  by 
the  corporation  to  run  its  machine  and  not  his  own,  its 
machine  a  carefully  selected  and  constructed  fixture, 
manageable  by  any  reputable  engineer. " 

"Yes,  but  a  pure  man  in  the  office  of  Mayor  could  do 
a  great  deal  of  good  with  those  appointments.  You  are 
being  urged  for  the  place.  See  the  power  for  good  you 
would  have  in  the  control  of  20,000  offices.  Why  then 
attempt  to  destroy  the  system ;  why  not  stand  by  it  and 
save  it  for  the  influence  it  preserves  for  good  men?" 

"The  human  nature  in  me  might  make  me  as  suscep- 
tible as  any  other  man  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  power 
lying  in  the  control  of  such  a  large  number  of  people 
depending  on  me.  But  I  would  rather  be  Mayor  with- 
out that  patronage  than  with  it.  With  the  office  in  view, 
I  am  in  favor  of  having  it  shorn  of  all  this  power  of 
appointment.  If  I  should  become  Chief  Executive  at  a 
time  when  the  Mayor  still  had  these  20,000  appointments, 
I  would  do  all  I  could  to  fill  them  with  the  best  men  pos- 
sible to  obtain,  and  might  be  able  in  doing  it  to  help  the 
party  that  elected  me  and  at  the  same  time  build  up  a 
personal  following  useful  to  any  ambition  I  should  have 
for  the  future.  But  I  cannot  see  that  with  all  my  expe- 
rience I  could  fill  all  these  places  as  well  for  the  tax- pay- 
ers as  could  a  commission  devoted  to  that  work  alone.  I 
could  not  possibly  be  as  disinterested  as  that  body 
would  be,  no  matter  how  much  I  tried ;  nor  could  I  give 
the  work  of  selection  as  much  time  and  skill.  If  you 
should  consider  me  a  perfect  public  servant  and  your 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  155 

opinion  and  the  fact  should  match,  yet  a  commission 
would  in  the  work  of  finding  efficient  employes  for  the 
city  surpass  me  in  every  way.  That  being  so,  if  1  were  a 
candidate  for  the  Mayoralty,  for  the  only  good  reason 
warranting  aspiration  to  that  office — a  desire  to  serve  the 
public — 1  should  be  bound  to  prefer  having  all  the 
appointments  controlled  by  a  permanent  non-partisan 
Board.  And  so  far  as  personal  convenience  could-  right- 
fully enter  the  question,  I  still  would  prefer  to  have  the 
Board  control  the  appointments.  I  should  desire  to  be 
as  good  a  Mayor  as  I  could  be.  It  would  be  easier  to 
be  a  good  Executive  with  Board  appointees  to  carry  on 
the  civil  service  than  with  personal  appointees,  for  the 
former  would  be  far  more  likely  to  be  all  efficient  than 
my  own  selections.  If  I  had  the  office  already  equipped, 
with  all  the  places  filled  with  better  public  servants  than 
1  could  pick  out,  I  could  give  my  full  time  to  executive 
work.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  after  being  sworn  in  I  had 
to  find  20,000  suitable  persons  to  help  me,  and  then 
maintain  continual  political  interest  in  them  all,  I  should 
have  on  my  hands  another  job  that  might  prove  far  more 
exacting  on  my  time  and  ability  than  the  office  I  was 
elected  to  fill.  Every  disinterested  consideration  of  the 
subject  leads  surely  to  this  conclusion:  that  in  municipal 
government  the  non-executive  offices  should  be  perma- 
nently filled  by  selections  made  by  a  continuous  non- 
partisan Board  acting  for  all  the  tax-payers.  So  far  as 
these  city  servants  go  they  should  constitute  a  fixed  fea- 
ture of  the  civil  administration,  like  the  parts  of  a 
machine  an  engineer  is  to  handle  for  the  concern  that 
employs  him.  They  should  be  always  ready  at  hand, 
supplied  in  advance,  permanently  appointed,   so  far  as 


156  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

possible;  and  not  subject  to  change  or  substitution  by 
each  new  Chief  Executive  employed.  The  Mayor  of  a 
city  is  elected  to  office  to  execute  the  will  of  the  citizens 
as  expressed  in  the  city  ordinances.  His  entire  time 
should  be  devoted  to  executive  labor.  He  should  not 
have  to  find  public  servants;  they  should  be  already  in 
place  as  parts  of  the  system  he  is  engaged  to  direct, 
not  form." 

41  But  isn't  the  quality  of  the  men  elected  to  the  Pres- 
idency a  proof  that  the  old  way  is  the  better  way? 
They  were  all  elected  under  the  spoils  system." 

44 We  have  elected  twenty-five  Presidents.  Among 
the  thousands  of  rulers  who  have  governed  all  other 
countries  there  cannot  be  found  an  equal  number  of  men 
comparable  in  ability  and  virtue  to  the  twenty-five  Pres- 
idents the  American  people  have  elected  consecutively. 
This  fact  is  the  greatest  of  all  the  arguments  in  favor  of 
republican  form  of  government.  The  superior  character 
of  all  the  Presidents  who  have  managed  our  national 
affairs  successively  for  over  one  hundred  years  does  not, 
in  any  wray,  prove  value  in  the  spoils  system.  It  does, 
however,  demonstrate  the  value  of  placing  the  responsi- 
bility for  the  selection  of  candidates  on  the  whole  party 
organization,  and,  properly  considered,  affords  the  strong- 
est of  arguments  for  civil  service  reform.  The  history 
of  the  Presidential  elections  conclusively  proves  that  the 
greater  the  number  of  the  people  who  actively  engage  in 
the  work  of  selecting  federal  executives,  the  better  the 
selection.  When  the  people  of  the  country  are  divided 
into  two  parties,  each  candidate  for  the  Presidency 
represents  the  choice  of  one-half  the  population.  For 
more  than  a  century  the  population  has  been  so  divided 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  157 

in  national  elections.  The  results  show  that  one-half 
the  people  have  always  selected  better  men  for  office  than 
smaller  divisions  have;  for  the  Presidents  have  all  been 
better  men  than  those  elected  by  smaller  constituencies, 
such  as  Governors,  Senators,  Congressmen,  and  so  on. 
The  smaller  the  number  of  people  making  choice  of  an 
official,  the  more  inferior,  as  a  'rule,  the  man  chosen, 
until  you  get  away  down  to  the  constable,  in  whose  elec- 
tion probably  the  least  number  of  voters  take  interest. 
Now,  if  the  greater  the  number  you  can  interest  in  the 
selection  of  a  public  official,  the  better  the  man  chosen, 
until  you  get  up  to  the  President,  selected  by  half  of  the 
people,  it  would  seem  to  follow  that  if  you  could  get  all 
the  people  to  choose  you  would  do  better  still,  as  was 
done  in  the  selection  of  Washington.  That  is  the  very 
essence  of  the  principle  of  civil  service  reform.  It 
assumes  that  in  the  selection  of  men  for  the  performance 
of  public  duties,  the  choice  of  all  the  people  is  the  best 
choice  and  that  of  the  individual  the  worst.  It  proposes, 
because  of  this,  to  remove  the  selection  of  public  serv- 
ants from  the  control  of  individuals,  the  worst  selectors, 
and  place  it  in  the  control  of  the  whole  population,  the 
best  chooser.  This  it  proposes  to  do  through  a  Board 
appointed  by  all  the  people  and  representing  them  all, 
having  for  its  purpose  the  selection  of  men  for  the  pub- 
lic service,  not'in  the  interest  of  any  individual  or  of  any 
party,  but  of  the  entire  community,  comprising  all  indi- 
viduals and  all  parties." 

Those  were  remarkable  arguments  to  be  made  in  the 
five  or  six  years  preceding  1895  in  Chicago  by  a 
man  ambitious  to  be  Mayor  of  the  city.  They  are,  per- 
haps, the  best  ever  uttered  on  the  subject;  at  least,  they 


158  MARTIN    B.  MADDEN 

have  not  been  excelled.  They  convey  an  idea  of  Mad- 
den's  method  of  expounding  his  principles,  but  do  so  no 
better  than  the  two  following  examples,  drawn  out  by  a 
very  recent  debate  on  the  same  subject  with  some  inti- 
mate political  friends: 

A  managing  politician  of  his  own  party  in  the  city 
said  to  Madden:  "This  civil  service  humbug  is  but  a 
college  industry  devised  to  find  employment  for  the  sur- 
plus product  of  the  colleges." 

"If  the  colleges  do  nothing  else  than  educate  young 
men  for  the  public  service  they  will  be  doing  about  as 
good  a  thing  for  the  country  as  they  can  well  do,"  was 
the  response;  "for  up  to  date  there  have  been  no  per- 
sons at  all  trained  for  public  employment.  Heretofore, 
men  have  got  their  training  for  office  in  office  at  the  tax- 
payers* expense.  It  will  be  a  good  deal  gained  if  the 
schools  at  their  expense  furnish  the  knowledge  before- 
hand needed  to  run  the  offices  of  the  country  properly 
from  the  start. ' ' 

"Yes,"  said  another  Bourbon,  "but  this  here  thing 
of  refining  in  the  tests  for  officeholding  kin  be  carried 
too  far.  They've  got  it  to  a  point  now  where  it  bars  out 
the  great  majority  of  the  American  people  from  holding 
any  office  in  the  country.  When  I  was  a  boy  any  man  in 
the  country  could  hold  office.  Now,  only  a  few  kin  stand 
the  tests  and  get  in.  All  the  rest  is  barred  out.  Its 
gettin'  to  be  like  China.  That's  where  civil  service 
started.  And  they've  got  the  thing  down  so  fine  there 
now  that  all  the  offices  in  the  empire  is  held  and  monop- 
olized by  a  few  rich  fellers  that  kin  afford  to  put  in  their 
whole  time  on  books.  The  great  majority  of  the  Chinese 
have   no  hope  of  ever  gettin'  any  share  in  the  govern- 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  159 

ment  of  their  country.  That's  why  they  don't  care  any- 
thing for  the  government  of  their  country.  That's  why 
there's  no  patriotism  in  China.  It's  gettin'  to  be  the 
same  way  here.  The  people  are  losing  their  patriotism. 
When  I  was  young  everybody  was  a  patriot  in  this 
country.  Then,  everybody  could  hold  office  if  he  wanted 
to.  But  now  civil  service  bars  most  of  the  people  out, 
and  they've  grown  indifferent  to  the  government  and 
don't  care  as  much  for  it  as  they  used  to.  People  ain't 
as  patriotic  as  they  used  to  be.  Civil  service  reform  has 
killed  patriotism  off.  It  was  different  in  the  old  days. 
Then,  every  Presidential  election  there  was  100,000 
offices  for  the  winners,  and  about  1,000,000  men  in  each 
party  struggling  to  get  them.  That  made  politics  lively. 
Everyone  was  interested  in  the  outcome.  That  stirred 
everyone  up.  That  made  public  sentiment  healthy. 
Now  there's  nothing  to  fight  for.  The  civil  servicers 
get  everything,  no  matter  which  party  wins.  So  politics 
is  dead.  Nobody  cares  any  more  which  party  wins.  So 
patriotism  is  dying  out.     Civil  service  is  killing  it." 

Madden  was  not  taken  by  surprise  at  this  effort  at 
reasoning.  He  instantly  recognized  in  it  the  prevailing 
ignorant  view  cultivated  by  the  lowest  clas.s  of  politicians. 
He  said:  ''China  probably  devised  the  system  of  public 
examinations  to  ascertain  the  fitness  of  candidates  for 
office,  and  has  carried  it  to  such  perfection  that  in  normal 
times  none  but  well  qualified  men  can  attain  important 
positions  in  the  public  service  of  the  empire.  The  exam- 
inations are  open  to  all  and  the  tests  do  not  bar  any  from 
public  place  but  those  not  qualified  to  serve.  Li  Hung 
Chang,  the  son  of  a  farmer,  is  a  conspicuous  example  of 
the  rise  of  a  Chinaman  by  means  of  ability  demonstrated 


160  MARTIN   B.  MADDEN 

at  the  public  examinations.  Although  Chinese  of  pure 
blood,  he  has  by  publicly  proved  ability  risen  to  first  place 
under  the  foreign  government  of  the  Manchu  dynasty. 
In  the  recent  international  war  he  was  entrusted  alone 
to  negotiate  the  peace  settlement  with  the  representatives 
of  all  the  powers  combined.  He  had  through  public 
tests  established  perfect  confidence  in  the  minds  of  all 
his  countrymen  in  his  ability  to  successfully  meet  all 
who  might  be  arrayed  against  him,  and  his  achievement 
in  securing  an  agreement  by  the  powers  to  let  the 
indemnity  forced  on  China  be  paid  mainly  from  the 
duties  on  those  things  on  which  the  foreigners  pay  the 
tax,  would  seem  to  fully  justify  the  good  opinion  of  him 
entertained  by  his  people.  The  partisanship  called 
patriotism  has  no  field  for  display  in  China,  because  the 
government  is  paternal  and  there  are  no  party  divisions. 
The  people  hate  the  dynasty  because  it  is  foreign  and, 
of  course,  their  patriotism  would  all  be  manifested  in 
opposition.  Their  civil  service  system,  instead  of  dull- 
ing their  patriotism,  really  increases  their  pride  in  their 
public  officials  because  of  their  known  and  demonstrated 
ability. 

"The  whole  world  recognizes  the  increase  of  patriot- 
ism in  this  country.  In  the  'old  days,'  say  those  of  the 
Revolution,  there  was  a  Tory  party  in  the  United  States. 
In  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  there  still  was  a  party  of 
Copperheads,  not,  however,  so  potent  as  the  opposition 
George  Washington  had  stabbing  him  in  the  back.  But 
patriotism  has  become  to  nearly  universal  in  the  Union 
that  an  American  President  would  now  practically  have 
no  American  enemies  to  encounter  in  a  foreign  war.  In 
every  instance  in  the  history  of  the  country  wherein  any 


PUBLIC   SERVANT  161 

popular  manifestation  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  govern- 
ment has  occurred,  the  facts  show  it  was  caused  by  the 
evils  of  the  spoils  system.  As  these  evils  have  disap- 
peared, as  control  of  federal  offices  has  been  removed 
from  individual  power,  as  consequent  corruption  and 
scandal  have  been  eliminated,  as  civil  service  reform 
has  been  extended  in  the  federal  departments  and  the 
public  service  has  been  improved  by  trained  and  efficient 
servants,  patriotism,  pride  in  the  government,  has  corre- 
spondingly increased,  and  its  manifestations  have  become 
proverbial  all  over  the  world. 

44  The  mere  mention  of  the  alleged  necessity  of  hav- 
ing offices  to  give  for  political  work  in  order  to  induce 
interest  in  elections  in  the  'old  days,'  shows  the  utter 
lack  of  real  patriotism  in  the  workers  who  required  such 
incentive.  They  didn't  labor  for  their  country  because 
they  loved  their  country.  They  simply  loved  4what  there 
was  in  it. '  The  presence  of  the  successful  class  of  these, 
4 crib  livers'  in  the  offices  of  the  country  did  more  to  dis- 
courage patriotism  and  disgust  citizens  with  their  govern- 
ment than  any  other  thing,  except  the  disgruntled  vapor- 
ings  of  the  class  kept  out.  If  civil  service  reform  did 
nothing  more  than  starve  such  men  into  the  necessity  of 
earning  their  bread  by  any  kind  of  honest  labor  they 
were  capable  of,  it  helped  the  cause  of  patriotism 
immensely.  With  the  disappearance  of  these  parasites 
from  public  life  interest  in  politics  has  so  increased  that 
in  the  two  last  Presidential  elections  nearly  the  whole 
suffrage  of  the  country  was  polled,  a  thing  never  pos- 
sible to  attain  in  the  4old  days'  of  the  spoils  system.  The 
real  fact  is  that  in  the  spoils  period  it  was  difficult  to 
interest  the  average  citizen  in  the  work  of  procuring  a 

n 


162  MARTIN   B.  MADDEN 

change  of  office-holders  for  the  benefit  of  the  'outs,'  and 
political  activity  was  as  a  rule  left  to  the  'grub  hunters. 
Now  that  elections  are  held  mainly  for  the  promotion  of 
principles,  and  cause  little  change  in  office-holding,  they 
afford  a  real  interest  to  citizens  who  love  the  government 
and  have  an  increasing  pride  in  the  method  of  its  con- 
duct, and  inspire  full  voting." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


PASSES    CIVIL    SERVICE    REFORM     BILL— IGNORES     INGRATITUDE- 
RESCUES  LAW  FROM  DESTRUCTION. 


IN  1895  Mr.  Madden  was  nominated  for  his  fourth  term 
in  the  Council,  There  was  arrayed  against  him  the 
strongest  candidate  his  combined  opponents  could  put 
into  the  field.  This  was  a  Reform  candidate  placed  in 
opposition  to  Mr.  Madden  by  the  local  branch  of  the  Civic 
Federation  for  some  reason  that  has  never  been 
explained.  This  organization  was  composed  of  a  large 
number  of  the  most  influential  citizens  of  the  town, 
banded  together  for  the  purpose  of  securing  Civil  Service 
Reform.  Of  this  the  Alderman  had  been  not  only  the 
most  persistent  advocate  but  the  most  influential.  He 
had  done  more  than  all  the  other  reformers  together  to 
create  sentiment  in  the  Board  and  among  the  citizens  for 
the  movement.  It  was  mainly  through  his  efforts  that 
the  Civil  Service  Ordinance  presented  to  the  Council  by 
Alderman  Mann  on  Dec.  3,  1894,  had  been  brought  for- 
ward. This  ordinance,  after  being  passed,  was  form- 
ulated into  a  legislative  act  establishing  Civil  Service 
Reform  in  Chicago,  providing  the  statute  should  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  voters  of  the  city  at  a  regular  election  and 
by  them  approved  by  a  majority  vote.  The  proposed 
law  was  at  the  time  before  the  Legislature,  with  the 
Civic  Federation  as  its  sponsor.  Efforts  were  being 
made  to  have  it  passed  in  time  to  have  the  voters  act  on 

J68 


164  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

it  in  that  spring's  Mayoralty  election.  The  measure  was 
"held  tip'*  securely  by  interests  opposed  to  its  passage 
and  others  using  it  as  a  block  to  obtain  consideration  for 
bills. 

The  Federation's  open  hostility  to  Madden  in  his  own 
ward  created  suspicion  and  general  misapprehension.  It 
caused  the  fiercest  and  closest  canvass  ever  made  in  the 
district.  Three  different  house  to  house  polls  were 
taken.  All  parties  became  divided.  A  Democratic 
Madden  club  was  organized  to  offset  Republican  defec- 
tion. It  grew  until  it  contained  500  members.  It  paraded 
the  streets  every  fair  evening  with  transparencies  calling 
on  the  voters  to  rally  to  the  support  of  Madden,  "the 
best  Alderman  the  city  ever  had." 

The  excitement  in  the  city  over  the  election  was 
equaled,  though  on  a  smaller  scale,  in  Springfield  over 
the  Civil  Service  Bill.  The  Hon.  Lyman  J.  Gage,  pres- 
ent Secretary  of  the  United  States  Treasury,  was  there 
in  the  interest  of  the  bill,  in  company  with  the  Hon.  John 
H.  Hamline,  President  of  the  Civic  Federation,  and  a 
host  of  similar  prominent  reformers.  Nearly  all  of  these 
had  lent  the  use  of  their  names  to  the  Reform  Candidate 
running  against  Alderman  Madden  in  his  own  ward. 

About  March  15th,  in  the  most  exciting  period  of  the 
city  struggle,  the  officers  of  the  Federation  who  were  at 
Springfield  realized  that  they  could  not  secure  the  passage 
of  the  Reform  Bill  without  party  help.  Alderman 
Madden  was  at  the  time  Chairman  of  the  City  Central 
Republican  Committee  and  acknowledged  party  leader 
in  Chicago.  The  Civil  Service  Reformers  at  Springfield 
sent  to  him  as  party  leader  an  urgent  request  to  come  to 
the  capital  and  assist  in  getting  the  measure  passed,  stat- 


PUBLIC    SERVANT  165 

ihg  that  it  was  in  the  vSenate  and  lacked  nine  votes,  which 
could  not  be  obtained.  This  request  was  perhaps  the 
most  extraordinary  ever  made  of  a  candidate  running  for 
office.  The  Federation  was  doing  all  in  its  power  to 
retire  Madden  from  public  life  and  was  pushing  him 
hard  in  his  home  district  by  the  use  of  a  special  candi- 
date put  there  by  the  organization  to  split  the  Republican 
vote.  To  now  ask  him,  within  a  few  days  of  election, 
to  abandon  the  contest  in  its  critical  stage  and  leave  it 
to  the  Federation's  nominee  and  go  to  Springfield  to 
assist  the  Society  in  the  cause  of  Reform,  looked  to  most 
of  the  Republican  workers  like  a  well  conceived  subter- 
fuge to  assure  Madden's  complete  overthrow. 

He  took  a  different  view.  The  request  indicated  to 
him  that  the  Civil  Service  Bill  must  be  in  a  desperate 
tangle  at  Springfield  to  induce  his  avowed  enemies  to 
solicit  his  help.  Their  request  convinced  him  they  were 
sincerely  in  favor  of  the  proposed  reform,  else  they  would 
not  seek  assistance  from  an  enemy  in  a  cause  both 
espoused.  He  concluded  to  go  and  telegraphed  to  that 
effect,  asking  merely  that  he  be  absolved  from  blame  for 
obnoxious  city  legislation  that  might  be  rushed  through 
the  Council  during  his  absence.  It  was  suspected  at  the 
time  that  certain  Aldermen  were  prepared  to  introduce 
and  hurry  through  a  couple  of  bad  franchise  measures 
they  had  in  hand  during  the  hurry  of  the  closing  days  of 
the  old  Board's  life.  Gathering  a  number  of  the  ablest 
city  party  managers  together  he  went  with  them  to 
Springfield.  Grasping  the  situation  at  once,  he  and  his 
friends  set  to  work  to  obtain  the  nine  votes  needed  to  get 
the  Civil  Service  Bill  out  of  the  deadlock  and  passed.  It 
took  two  days  and  nights  of  the  hardest  kind  of  work. 


166  MARTIN    B.  MADDEN 

On  March  tgth  the  Alderman  turned  over  to  the  Civic 
Federation  for  the  passage  of  its  measure  twelve  new 
votes,  and  the  Civil  Service  Law  was  enacted.  In  the 
history  of.  Reform  legislation  Madden  is  the  only  person 
who  is  recorded  as  having  alone  been  able  to  put  on 
statute  books  a  Ci^il  Service  Reform  Law. 

His  work  at  the  capital  accomplished,  Madden  returned 
to  Chicago,  arriving  in  the  morning.  He  at  once  went 
before  the  Republican  Executive  Committee  of  Cook 
County  and  suggested  the  adoption  of  a  resolution,  which 
he  presented,  calling  on  all  the  voters  and  political  work- 
ers in  the  county  to  do  their  utmost  to  secure  the  adop- 
tion of  the  Civil  Service  Law  in  the  election  on  April 
2d.  If  the  voters  then  by  a  majority  approved  the  law 
it  would  become  operative  on  the  first  of  the  following 
July;  if  they  did  not,  the  date  of  its  operation  would  be 
indefinitely  postponed.  The  fate  of  the  law  was  entirely 
within  the  control  of  the  Republican  party  in  the  city. 
The  committee  unanimously  adopted  the  resolution. 
Then  he  had  issued  a  proclamation  urging  every  voter 
to  use  every  legitimate  influence'  within  his  control  to 
procure  votes  for  the  law,  so  that  the  tax-payers  might 
realize  its  benefits  as  soon  as  possible.  This  was  posted 
immediately  all  over  the  city  and  sent  out  in  special 
mails  to  the  electors.  The  whole  machinery  of  the 
Republican  party  was  put  to  work  and  strained  to  its  last 
possible  effort  to  destroy  the  whole  spoils  system  in  the 
municipality.  This  was  the  work  that  produced  the 
result  accomplished.  Mr.  Madden  made  no  display;  he 
had  neither  disposition  nor  time  for  that ;  what  he  was 
after,  as  usual,  was  results. 

He  then  went  back  to  his  canvass,  after  a  three  days' 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  .         167 

absence  from  it.  As  he  had  feared,  two  "boodle"  ordi- 
nances had  been  put  through  the  Board  of  Aldermen  dur- 
ing his  absence  and  the  Civic  Federation  party  in  the 
Fourth  Ward  were  industriously  using  the  fact  against 
him.  They  were  arguing  that  he  was  really  responsible 
for  both  measures  and  that  his  absence  was  a  trick  to 
allow  them  to  be  passed  without  himself  going  on  record 
foi  them.  These  same  reformers  both  concealed  and 
denied  the  fact  that  the  Alderman  had  gone  away  in  the 
interest  of  the  very  Reform  movement  they  were  man- 
ipulating against  him. 

To  the  credit  of  the  press  of  Chicago  it  must  be  said 
that  when  the  news  from  the  State  capital  was  placed 
before  its  editors  and  they  realized  fully  what  had  been 
done  at  Springfield,  and  were  informed  by  their  local 
reporters  of  what  was  being  done  in  the  city  campaign, 
they  lost  no  time  in  raising  a  row  over  the  whole  hypoc- 
risy that  was  being  operated  in  the  Fourth  Ward  against 
the  real  achiever  of  Civil  Service  Reform  for  the  city. 
Several  editors,  whose  papers  had  up  to  this  time  been 
bitterly  fighting  Madden,  turned  them  entirely  about  into 
advocates  of  his  election,  some  even  demanding  it  in  the 
name  of  good  government.  The  campaign  was  in  its 
last  days  and  the  revulsion  had  barely  time  to  enlighten 
public  sentiment.  President  Hamline  took  it  upon  him- 
self, in  the  name  of  the  Civic  Federation,  to  go  into  the 
Alderman's  district  and  take  the  stump  against  the  work 
of  his  own  Society.  He  announced  everywhere  he 
obtained  an  audience:  "To  Mr.  Madden  belongs  the 
credit  of  having  secured  for  the  City  of  Chicago  the  passage 
of  the  Civil  Service  Reform  Law.  Without  the  votes  he 
got  for  the  measure  the  bill  could  not  have  been  passed. " 


168         .  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

Mr.  Slason  Thompson,  editor  of  the  Journal,  led  in 
this  work.  His  paper  had  been  one  of  the  most  intelli- 
gent and  powerful  agencies  used  in  the  campaign  up  to 
this  time  for  the  support  of  the  Civic  Federation's  Alder- 
manic  candidate  in  the  Fourth  Ward.  He  did  not  hesi- 
tate one  moment  in  changing  his  attitude.  He  was  dis- 
interested and  sincere.  On  March  2 2d  he  came  out  in 
an  editorial  calling  on  all  the  voters  in  the  Fourth  Ward 
to  rally  to  the  support  of  Madden.  t4 Speaking  for 
myself/'  said  Mr.  Thompson,  "and  the  Journal,  t  think 
Alderman  Madden  is  a  public  benefactor.  In  the  first 
place/  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois  and  of  the  City 
of  Chicago  owe  it  to  the  Republican  party  that  the  Civil 
Service  Law  has  been  given  to  them  for  adoption.  Had 
it  not  been  for  Alderman  Madden  we  (speaking  for  the 
Civic  Federation)  could  not  have  passed  the  bill  and  the 
reform  might  have  been  indefinitely  delayed.  I  was  at 
Springfield  with  the  Citizens'  Committee.  We  had  only 
five  of  the  ten  Republican  Senators  from  Cook  County 
favorably  inclined  to  us  before  Mr.  Madden  came.  The 
country  Senators  would  not  come  to  our  support  so  long 
as  we  lacked  unanimity  among  those  from  our  own 
county.  Mr.  Madden  came  to  the  capital  and  with  his 
personal  and  political  influence  secured  to  us  the  five 
home  votes  we  needed  and  which,  until  he  worked  on 
them,  had  been  opposed  to  us.  They  gave  us  the  local 
unanimity  we  had  to  have.  It  strengthened  our  favor- 
able men  and  welded  the  Cook  County  Senators  together, 
and  this  solidity  enabled  us  to  obtain  the  other  votes  we 
needed  from  the  country.  I  consider  this  the  most 
important  piece  of  work  on  the  part  of  a  public  man 
that  has  been  done  in  ten  years  either  in  Illinois  or  Chi; 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  169 

cago.  It  stamps  Mr.  Madden  as  a  public  man  of  vast 
usefulness.  He  has  been  called  a  machine  politician, 
but  by  his  work  for  Civil  Service  Reform  he  has  proven 
himself  a  citizen  of  the  highest  type.  We  advise  the 
voters  of  the  Fourth  Ward  to  send  him  to  the  Council. 
It  is  not  possible  that  his  opponent  in  his  whole  life  has 
performed  for  the  public  services  as  valuable  as  Mr. 
Madden  has  accomplished  in  two  days." 

President  Hamline,  of  the  Civic  Federation,  made  this 
public  announcement:  "The  Civil  Service  Law  is  the 
most  important  enactment  that  has  been  added  to  the 
statutes  of  Illinois  in  many  years.  Alderman  Madden 
enabled  us  to  secure  its  passage.  Without  the  aid  he 
gave  the  law  could  not  have  been  passed.  He  is  a  pub- 
lic-spirited citizen  and  a  representative  of  the  people  to 
whom  all  true  Chicagoans  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude.  He 
should  have  full  credit  for  his  work." 

The  News,  Independent,  on  March  2 2d,  said:  "The 
election  of  Mr.  Madden  is  more  necessary  in  the  interest 
of  reform  and  good  municipal  government  than  the  elec- 
tion of  any  other  nominee  on  this  year's  tickets." 

"His  record,  his  leadership,  are  an  example  few  could 
emulate.  Since  1855  Chicago  has  had  bright  and  bril- 
liant men  as  Chairmen  of  the  Finance  Committee,  but  not 
one  other  of  them  all  has  done  as  much  as  Mr.  Madden," 
said  another  newspaper. 

City  Comptroller  Jones,  Democrat,  said  for  pub- 
lication: "As  Chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee 
Mr.  Madden  is  a  bulwark  of  strength  to  the  city 
government.  His  thorough  and  complete  knowledge 
of  the  financial  conditions  of  the  city,  its  resources 
and  necessities,  is  marvelous.       Without    a    moment's 


170  MARTIN   B.    MADDEN 

hesitation,  he  can,  without  reference  to  a  book,  give 
an  accurate  answer  to  any  question  about  a  financial 
fact  relating  to  the  city.  As  Chairman  of  the  Finance 
Committee  Mr.  Madden  is  the  right  arm  of  the  Mayor, 
an  invaluable  aid  and  assistant  to  the  Comptroller." 

44  He  is  the  brainiest,  most  capable  and  most  self-sac- 
rificing man  that  ever  held  the  helm  of  the  Republican 
ship  of  state  in  this  city  He  stands  without  a  peer, 
without  a  rival,  the  ablest  Alderman  of  them  all  " 
announced  the  Dispatch, 

The  Inter- Ocean  said:  44Mr.  Madden  has  been  engaged 
in  a  single  service  all  his  life.  He  is  the  head  of 
the  house  in  which  he  first  labored  in  the  humblest 
capacity.  Thirty  years  of  faithful  duty  is  the  highest 
possible  proof  of  merit.  His  financial  management  of 
the  city  has  challenged  universal  admiration.  The  rec- 
ord he  has  made  in  the  Council  is  that  of  a  leader  of  men, 
wise  in  counsel,  courageous  in  action,  and  successful  in 
all  he  undertakes  to  do.  He  never  in  all  his  life  betrayed 
a  friend  or  broke  a  promise.  His  name  is  a  synonym  in 
business  circles  for  integrity  and  uprightness." 

Alderman  Hepburn  appeared  before  the  public  in  an 
address  in  which  he  used  the  following  statement:  44I 
have  sat  in  the  Council  now  six  years  with  Mr.  Madden, 
and  I  desire  to  say  this  to  the  people  of  Chicago:  Never 
in  the  history  of  the  city  has  there  been  a  man  in  that 
body  who  served  either  his  ward  or  the  whole  city  as 
faithfully  as  this  man  has  done.  He  has  done  more  in 
the  past  two  years  for  the  city  than  any  Mayor  has  ever 
accomplished.  He  has  stood  up  time  and  again  in  the 
two  years  just  passed  when  Chicago  was  on  the  verge  of 
bankruptcy  and  saved  it  from  toppling  over.       He  has 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  171 

stood  at  bay  an  administration  that  was  plunging  the 
city  into  ruinous  debt,  and  it  has  been  this  one  Alder- 
man's efforts,  his  determination,  his  will,  his  force  and 
his  power  alone  that  have  saved  the  town  from  utter 
bankruptcy,  It  has  been  well  said  of  him  that  he  was 
not  more  the  representative  of  the  Fourth  Ward  than  of 
the  entire  population.  He  has  introduced  and  passed 
more  bills  for  the  benefit  of  Chicago  and  its  citizens  than 
all  the  balance  of  us  put  together,  and  1  know  thoroughly 
what  I  am  talking  about,  and  the  records  of  the  Council 
will  prove  it.'* 

Madden's  own  explanation  to  his  constituents  was 
that  when  the  choice  was  presented  to  him  of  remaining 
at  home  and  attempting  to  fight  the  assured  majority 
that  would  put  on  passage  the  two  obnoxious  ordinances, 
or  of  abandoning  both  that  struggle  and  the  one  for  his 
re-election  and  going  to  Springfield,  he  chose  the  trip, 
because  he  believed  he  would  be  able  to  obtain  the  votes 
Civil  Service  Reform  needed  to  become  an  accomplished 
fact  He  had  ascertained  he  could  not  prevent  the  pas- 
sage of  the  ordinances;  all  he  could  do  was  to  make  a 
record  of  opposition  by  staying  at  home  and  he  had  been 
convinced  he  could  secure  the  passage  of  the  law.  The 
law  would  prove  of  more  value  to  the  city  than  any  piece 
of  legislation  enacted  since  he  had  been  in  public  life. 
It  was  a  thousand  times  more  necessary  to  all  the  tax- 
payers, those  of  the  Fourth  Ward  included,  than  the  elec- 
tion of  any  Alderman  or  any  number  of  Aldermen. 

He  was  returned  to  the  Council  by  a  majority  of  1,200. 

The  election  resulted  in  the  popular  adoption  of 
the  Civil  Service  Law  by  a  large  majority.  It  went  into 
effect  on  July  1,   1895.      The  Mayor,   according    to  its 


172  MARTIN   B.    MADDEN 

terms,  appointed  three  Commissioners  to  frame  rules  for 
the  selection  and  discharge  of  employes  in  the  city's  civil 
service.  At  the  outset  these  officials  established  an  age 
limit,  putting  it  at  forty-five  years.  This  barred  from  the 
public  service  every  surviving  soldier  who  had  served  in 
the  Civil  War.  Nothing  could  have  been  done  more 
perilous  to  the  cause  of  the  reform.  The  public  of  Chi- 
cago rose  against  the  outrage.  There  was  danger  that 
the  whole  plan  of  having  public  servants  examined  for 
qualifications  would  be  swept  out  of  existence  by  the 
indignation  of  the  people.  Heroic  measures  had  to  be 
adopted  at  once  to  correct  the  blunder  and  save  the  law. 
Mr.  Madden  took  the  question  up  and  arrayed  the  entire 
Council  against  the  Commissioners,  ruling.  He  chose 
for  his  ground  the  contention  that  constitutionally  no 
power  but  that  of  the  city  legislature  could  determine  who 
should  hold  office  in  the  city,  and  that  even  that  body 
had  no  right  to  fix  an  age  limit.  The  Commissioners  had 
no  discretion  whatever  in  the  matter  of  prescribing 
eligibility.  All  they  had  the  right  to  do  was  to  ascertain 
and  report  upon  the  ability  to  fill  office  of  those  who 
applied  for  public  positions  under  the  classifications  made 
by  the  Council.  It  alone  could  say  what  offices  were  to 
be  filled  and  who  should  have  them.  The  examiners 
could  do  no  more  than  certify  to  the  fitness  of  the  appli- 
cants as  shown  at  the  public  examinations  and  furnish 
lists  to  the  appointing  powers  from  which  to  select  ascer- 
tained capables.  The  Commissioners  themselves  could 
neither  appoint  nor  discharge;  they  could  only  make  and 
carry  out  rules  for  preventing  the  appointment  of  incom- 
petent or  the  discharge  of  competent  men.  The  only 
ability  they  had  the  power  to  certify  to  was  purely  that 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  173 

of  being  able  to  properly  perform  the  duties  of  the  posi- 
tions the  applicants  asked  to  be  examined  for.  This  ques- 
tion of  ability  was  entirely  one  of  fact,  ascertainable  by 
examination,  and  in  no-wise  one  of  age,  except  in  the 
extreme  cases  of  senility  or  immaturity.  The  prerog- 
ative of  deciding  how  old  or  how  young  office-holders 
should  be,  as  well  as  that  of  saying  what  classes  of  citi- 
zens should  be  eligible  to  office,  belonged  solely  to  the 
law-making  power;  the  Commission  being  confined  to  the 
work  of  simply  certifying  to  the  fact  that  applicants 
belonged  to  the  classes  designated  by  law  as  those 
entitled  to  hold  office.  To  limit  the  age  for  office-hold- 
ing to  forty-five  years  was  to  establish  a  class.  That  was 
usurping  a  legislative  power.  It  was  an  outrage  as  well. 
A  case  had  never  been  known  in  which  a  man  had  proven 
himself  incapable  of  performing  public  civic  duty  simply 
by  being  forty-five  years  old.  For  much  public  work 
men  of  that  age  were  better  qualified  than  men  under 
it.  The  soldiers  were  all  past  it,  and  those  of  them  not 
yet  decrepit  were  especially  fit  and  deserving.  The  rule 
of  barring  these  men  from  public  service  in  the  city  of 
Chicago  almost  approached  insanity  in  its  lack  of  sense 
and  patriotism.  It  Should  be  instantly  stabbed  to  death. 
For  the  purpose  of  ending  the  injustice  and  scandal 
at  once,  Mr.  Madden  introduced  and  proposed  the 
immediate  adoption  of  an  ordinance  declaring  unequiv- 
ocally that  in  all  matters  respecting  the  classification  of 
persons  eligible  to  positions  in  the  city  service  the  Coun- 
cil alone  had  the  power  of  decision;  prohibiting  the 
establishment  of  the  proposed  age  limit,  and  confining 
the  duties  of  the  Civil  Service  Commission  to  the  preven- 
tion of  the  appointment  of  incapable  persons  to  office  and 


174  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

the  protection  from  discharge  of  those  deserving  to 
remain  in  the  service.  The  speech  he  made  in  support 
of  his  measure  was  one  of  the  most  eloquent  ever  heard 
in  the  city.  It  carried  the  Council  without  a  dissenting 
voice,  and  the  ordinance  was  adopted  by  a  unanimous 
vote.  This  was  extraordinary,  as  the  Civil  Service  Law 
had  many  opponents  in  the  Board,  and  the  vote  saved 
the  law.  If  its  enemies  had  successfully  resisted  the 
Madden  ordinance  and  thus  permitted  the  Commissioners 
to  have  their  way,  they  might  have  made  the  law  so 
odious  as  to  have  brought  about  repeal  of  its  enactment. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


ASSURES    CHICAGO  S    SUPREMACY    IN    MANUFACTURE — SAVES    LAKE 
.     FRONT— CREATES  PARK  THERE. 


AFTER  Mr.  Swift's  election  a  movement  was  strongly 
organized  to  form  the  Republican  party  in  the  city 
on  lines  that  might  diminish  Alderman  Madden's  ascend- 
ancy. This  grew  to  such  extent  that  it  arrayed  the 
Mayor  and  his  official  adherents  in  a  somewhat  hostile 
attitude  even  in  the  conduct  of  municipal  affairs  regu- 
lated by  the  Council.  When  the  conflict  reached  the 
point  where  it  began  to  threaten  the  impairment  of  Mr. 
Madden's  usefulness  as  a  public  servant  he  called  upon 
the  Mayor  and  said;  *'It  is  best  that  there  should  be  a 
clear  and  unmistakable  understanding  between  us.  You 
are  Mayor,  and  as  such,  represent  in  an  official  capacity 
the  citizens  of  Chicago.  You  are  also  the  acknowledged 
leader  of  the  Republican  party  in  this  city.  The  major- 
ity of  the  citizens,  by  electing  you  to  your  office,  have 
publicly  declared  that  the  policy  of  the  party,  as  outlined 
in  the  platform  upon  which  you  stood  as  candidate,  is 
the  one  they  wish  carried  out  during  your  term  of  office. 
As  a  member  of  the  City  Council  I  represent  the  major- 
ity that  elected  you,  in  the  legislative  work  of  the  munic- 
ipality. As  Chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee  I  repre- 
sent the  citizens  of  the  city  in  all  questions  respecting 
taxation  and  disbursement  of  the  public  moneys.  As 
spokesman  in  the  Council  of  the  party  that  elected  both 

175 


176  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

of  us  I  represent  its  integrity  in  all  matters  consistent 
with  the  city's  interests.  Now,  all  this  being  so,  I  wish 
you  to  know  that  it  is  my  intention,  as  it  is  my  duty,  to 
support  you  in  every  measure  you  may  take  both  as 
Mayor  and  as  party  leader,  so  far  as  councilmanic  action 
may  be  necessary  or  helpful  to  you  in  such  measures. 
You  may  always  in  these  matters  call  upon  and  demand 
my  help,  and  you  may  rely  upon  it  that  I  will  readily 
give  it,  and  give  it  cheerfully  and  with  all  the  ability 
that  I  possess.  I  desire  that  you  accept  this  avowal.  It 
is  made  without  any  reservation. " 

Chicago's  natural  advantages  should  in  time,  Mr. 
Madden  for  years  has  argued,  make  it  the  most  beautiful 
city  in  the  world  and  the  most  pleasant  to  abide  in.  The 
territory  is  level  and  easily  improved.  The  situation  by 
the  lakeside  gives  it  two  possessions  unequaled  for  sani- 
tation and  comfort.  Lake  Michigan,  nearly  500  miles  long, 
ninety  miles  wide,  and  over  400  feet  deep,  is  fed  by  sub- 
terranean springs.  The  water  is  cold,  pure  and  health- 
ful. All  the  corporation  needs  do  is  to  pump  it  out  and 
distribute  it.  The  cost  of  doing  this  enables  the  popula- 
tion to  have  all  they  wish  for  use  and  waste  for  less  than 
any  other  large  community  can  obtain  a  needed  supply. 
The  lake  is  so  large  that  it  cannot  be  perceptibly  raised 
in  temperature.  It  modifies  the  summer  heat  so  that 
the  city  is  saved  from  torridity,  and  is  cooler  than  any 
other  place  in  the  same  latitude  during  the  heated  term. 
The  winds  are  much  of  the  time  in  June,  July  and 
August  from  the  east,  and  as  they  cross  the  cooling 
water  on  their  way  to  the  town  they  bring  energy  and 
refreshment  to  its  people  at  the  time  when  other  popu- 
lations cannot  escape  depression  and  lassitude. 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  177 

The  city  lies  along  the  western  shore  of  this  remark- 
able sea  for  a  length  of  twenty- five  miles.  This  beach 
line  affords  an  opportunity  for  civic  pleasure  and  adorn* 
ment  nowhere  else  possessed  by  any  large  city.  For 
nature  has  decided,  and  the  people  of  Chicago  have 
arranged,  that  the  immense  shipping  trade  shall  be  car- 
ried on  in  the  heart  and  back  of  the  city,  where  even 
better  facilities  exist,  and  that  the  lake  front  shall  for- 
ever be  devoted  to  beauty  and  to  pleasure. 

The  lake  front  in  the  southern  half  of  Chicago  was  for 
many  years  left'to  raggedness  and  disuse  because  of  a 
stubborn  dispute  all  the  time  over  the  title  to  the  sub- 
merged land.  The  Illinois  Central  Railroad  had  a  right 
of  way  along  about  seven  miles  of  the  best  water  line 
and  used  it  for  trackage  for  its  own  cars  and  those  of 
other  lines  entering  the  city.  This  use  prevented  pop- 
ular access  to  the  water,  and  its  resultant  dirt,  smoke, 
noise  and  rumble  made  the  most  desirable  residence  dis- 
trict on  the  South  Side  practically  unavailable  for  home 
building.  ^The  question  was  taken  into  the  courts,  where 
the  financial  resources  of  the  company  kept  it  until  the 
people  got  it  to  Washington.  There  at  last  the  supreme 
deciding  body  in  the  country  affirmed  the  city's  conten- 
tion that  it  owned  the  submerged  land. 

What  to  do  with  the  vast  estate  now  became  the  most 
important  matter  for  consideration  the  people  had  had 
since  they  started  to  build  the  greatest  city  in  the  world. 
The  Federal  Government  engineers  had  reported  that 
the  average  depth  of  water  for  a  distance  of  1,250  feet 
out  from  the  shore  line  and  a  distance  of  about  seven 
miles  north  and  south  was  too  shallow  for  shipping  with- 
out artificial  interference  and  might,  therefore,  be  appro- 

12 


178  MARTIN    B.  MADDEN 

priated  by  thev  municipality  as  not  being  navigable  and 
under  government  control.  The  drainage  canal  was 
being  dredged  at  the  city  end  and  the  millions  of  cubic 
yards  of  excavated  matter  would  go  a  great  ways  towards 
making  dry  land  of  this  water  waste. 

The  problem  attracted  universal  attention,  and  great 
speculators  from  all  over  the  world  flocked  to  the  work 
of  offering  solutions.  In  New  York  reports  got  out  that 
'Chicago  was  going  to  create  $500, 000,000  worth  of  real 
estate  and  put  it  on  the  market  to  obtain  a  permanent 
municipal  fund  for  making  the  city  a  cosmopolitan  place. 

After  much  discussion  and  sifting  of  propositions,  the 
more  skillful  politicians  succeeded  in  impressing  the 
public  with  the  idea  that  the  best  thing  to  do  with  the 
new  estate  was  to  utilize  it  altogether  for  shipping  pur- 
poses. Fill  in  the  area,  dredge  great  slips,  construct 
immense  wharves,  build  enormous  elevators,  put  up  vast 
docks  and  storehouses,  and  make  Chicago  the  finest 
harbor  in  the  world— that  was  the  tempting  vision  held 
out.  The  revenue,  the  prestige,  the  business  it  would 
attract,  would  enrich  the  city  beyond  calculation  and 
make  it  grow  so  great  that  every  foot  of  land  in  it  would 
become  worth  more  than  whole  lots  then  brought. 

Mr.  Madden  had  now  been  in  the  city  legislature  for 
five  years,  during  three  of  which  he  had  managed  its 
finances.  He  had  become  thoroughly  versed  in  the 
town's  needs  and  advantages  and  was  alive  to  its  many 
opportunities.  He  had  been  watching  the  legal  contest 
over  the  shore  line  question,  and  with  much  study  and 
controversy  had  worked  out  a  solution  that  aimed  at  the 
best  permanent  results.  He  took  ground  at  the  start 
that  the  lake  front  should  never  be  given  over  to  any 


PUBLIC   SERVANT  179 

other  than  public  uses.  All  the  people,  he  argued,  had 
a  common  right  of  access  to  the  water.  To  permit  any- 
business  to  be  built  up  along  the  submerged  land  that 
would  make  it  either  impossible  or  inconvenient  for  the 
people  to  exercise  their  right  of  access,  would  be  both 
unfair  and  unwise.  It  would,  so  to  speak,  shove  the  city 
that  much  farther  from  the  lake.  It  would  be  like  put- 
ting the  back  yard  in  front  of  the  house.  Because  of  its 
climatic  advantages,  Chicago  would  gradually  attract  a 
large  number  of  summer  residents  from  the  south,  and 
in  time,  as  it  should  be  beautified,  would  become  the 
metropolitan  place  of  living  of  the  well-to-do  from  the 
whole  middle  west.  The  chief  educational  center  of  the 
Union  would  eventually  be  there.  .  The  principal  natural 
beauty  of  the  locality  was  the  lake  shore  front.  To 
destroy  this  by  turning  it  over  to  the  ugliness,  the  bustle, 
the  turmoil  and  the  uncleanliness  of  the  shipping  traffic, 
would  be  to  chase  away  or  keep  from  coming  a  popula- 
tion that  would  be  of  more  advantage  financially  to  the 
place  than  the  profits  of  the  wharves. 

His  main  argument,  however,  was  that  to  concentrate 
the  shipping  on  the  lake  front  would  forever  rob  the 
city  of  the  advantage  triat  was  bound  sooner  or  later  to 
make  Chicago  the  greatest  manufacturing  place  in  the 
world,  and  therefore  the  richest  town.  After  the  drain- 
age canal  was  completed  the  Chicago  River  would  be 
joined  to  it,  making  a  forty-mile  deep-waterway  in  the 
center  and  rear  of  the  city.  Not  long  after  that  the 
Calumet  River,  at  the  southern  boundary,  would  be 
extended  until  it  also  joined  the  canal.  That  would  add 
about  fifteen  miles  to  the  internal  waterway,  making  of 
the  whole  South  Side  a  vast  island,  surrounded  by  rivers 


180  MARTIN   B.  MADDEN 

entering  the  lake  twenty  miles  apart.  All  the  railroads 
coming  into  and  leaving  the  city  would  in  time  find  their 
ways  in  and  out  along  the  interior  waterway.  The 
result  would  be  an  advantage  for  manufacturing  not 
equaled  anywhere  else.  Factories  located  along  the 
rivers  and  canal  could  receive  their  raw  material  direct 
from  trains  or  boats  without  cartage,  and  could  send 
away  without  cartage  their  finished  products.  This  one 
saving  of  cartage  would  be  such  a  valuable  element  in 
the  cutting  down  of  expenses  and  the  increase  of  profits 
in  the  business  of  making  and  distributing  goods,  that 
it  would  gradually  draw  to  Chicago  all  the  principal 
lines  of  manufacturing  carried  on  in  the  country.  Iron 
ore  could  be  brought  in  bulk  from  the  northern  mines 
and  delivered  from  the  ship  to  the  furnace,  and  the  fin- 
ished iron  or  steel  could  be  delivered  in  bulk  from  the 
mill  to  the  train  or  boat,  without  any  hauling.  The  coal 
underlying  most  of  Illinois,  which  produced  heat  in  less 
time  than  any  other  coal,  could  be  delivered  in  Chicago 
for  factory  or  mill  purposes  to  the  factory  or  mill,  with- 
out hauling,  for  less  than  a  dollar  a  ton.  There  were 
enough  sites  along  the  canal  and  river  frontages  to 
accommodate  more  manufacturing  than  was  now  done  in 
the  United  States,  and  every  site  could  have  railroad 
switches  or  water  front,  and  most  of  them  both.  Trans- 
ferring the  shipping  to  the  lake  front  would  retard  the 
growth  of  the  manufacturing  business  of  the  city  by  sub- 
jecting it  to  cartage.  The  raw  material  would  have  to 
be  hauled  from  the  docks  across  town  to  the  factories, 
and  the  finished  products  hauled  back  to  the  ships.  That 
cartage  would  be  an  element  of  cost  that  would  prevent 
the  investment  in  the  city  of  millions  of  dollars  which 


PUBLIC   SERVANT  181 

its  absence  on  the  interior  waterways  would  invite.  The 
hauling  back  and  forth  across  town  would  so  interfere 
with  the  local  trade  as  to  ruin  most  of  it  and  hamper  it 
all.  It  would  also  seriously  interfere  with  travel  and 
spoil  whole  districts  devoted  to  residence. 

New  York  was  now  the  chief  manufacturing  city  on 
the  continent.  There  was  but  one  railroad  entering  it. 
Its  depots  were  so  situated  that  goods  had  to  be  carted 
to  and  from  them.  All  the  other  railways  terminating 
at  New  York  had  to  deliver  goods  to  the  city  by  both 
ferriage  and  cartage  and  receive  goods  by  wagon  and 
water  transportation.  That  ate  up  profits  and  piled  up 
costs.  Chicago  alone  of  all  large  American  cities  had 
the  natural  monopoly  of  absolute  freedom  from  all  these 
local  expenses.  That  monopoly  would  enable  her 
rapidly  to  distance  all  competitors  in  the  inevitable 
struggle  for  ascendancy  in  the  manufacturing  trade  of 
the  country.  Nothing  but  absolute  folly  in  throwing 
away,  or  refusing  to  exercise,  her  monopoly  could  pre- 
vent her  from  acquiring  that  preponderance  in  manufac- 
turing that  would  concentrate  it  along  the  interior  water- 
ways of  the  city.  Nature  intended  Chicago  to  be  the 
center  of  factories  and  distribution  of  goods  for  the  whole 
Union;  the  city  of  the  vastest  weekly  pay  roll  in  the 
world ;  the  home  of  the  largest,  best  paid,  most  comfort- 
ably housed  and  happiest  population  on  earth. 

Asia  would  soon  wake  up.  Her  half  of  the  human 
race  would  go  into  trade  and  increase  their  consumption. 
Asia  would  be  the  western  man's  market,  and  would 
take  all  the  food  the  yet  untilled  lands  could  yield  for 
export.  Oriental  trade  might,  and  probably  would, 
vastly  exceed  European  trade.     It  would  people  the  west 


1&2  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

more  densely  than  the  east  was  occupied.  Chicago 
would  grow  with  the  west,  would  manufacture  for  it  and 
finance  for  it.  The  city,  already  having  2,000,000  of 
people,  was  merely  in  its  infancy. 

To  abandon  the  river  and  move  to  the  lake  would  be 
taking  a  step  backward,  would  be  retreating  into  the 
manufacturing  class  of  New  York ;  would  be  commercial 
folly. 

With  all  his  energy  the  Alderman  set  about  the  task 
of  disseminating  these  arguments,  and  many  more  like 
them,  to  arrest  and  throw  back  the  movement  for  lake 
front  shipping.  The  moment  he  learned  that  the 
Supreme  Court  had  fixed  the  title  to  the  lake  front  in  the 
city,  he  took  steps  to  at  once  kill  off  the  shipping  transfer 
scheme.  For  this  purpose  he  drew  up  an  ordinance 
creating  a  park  of  the  submerged  lands  accruing  to  the 
municipality.  This  called  for  the  immediate  filling  up 
of  the  tract  from  Randolph  Street  south  to  Park  Row,  a 
distance  of  one  mile,  and  from  the  railway  tracks  out 
1,250  feet.  The  tracks  were  seven  feet  below  the  level 
of  Michigan  Avenue,  the  nearest  thoroughfare  parallel 
to  the  lake.  They  could  be  lowered  four  feet  and  the 
strip  of  land  between  them  and  the  avenue  raised 
inclinedly  until  it  attained  an  elevation  of  four  additional 
feet  at  the  tracks.  That  would  leave  the  railway  bed 
fifteen  feet  below  the  new  surface.  The  ground  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  tracks  could  be  raised  to  the  same 
level  along  the  railroad  line  and  be  joined  to  that  on  the 
western  side  by  architectural  bridges  at  each  street 
crossing,  leaving  the  roadbed  down  in  a  sort  of  lighted 
subway.  Then  the  made  land  could  be  gently  sloped 
to  the  water's  edge.       In  this  one  park  there  would  be 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  183 

about  200  acres.  It  would  be  the  most  valuable  park  of 
its  size  in  existence  and  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  and 
would  lie  abreast  of  the  most  crowded  business  portion 
of  the  city.  Nothing  in  civilization  would  equal  it  in  the 
way  of  municipal  adornment,  utility  and  advantage.  In 
time  it  might  have  grouped  upon  it  the  magnificent 
buildings  contemplated  for  libraries,,  art  galleries  and 
public  museums. 

The  ordinance  passed  the  Council  at  once  and'  imme- 
diately took  the  public  fancy.  Washington  Porter  pro- 
posed to  continue  the  improvement  from  Park  Row  all 
the  way  south  to  Jackson  Park,  the  site  of  the  Columbian 
Exposition,  a  distance  of  about  six  miles,  with  a  wide 
canal  and  parallel  driveway  the  entire  distance.  The 
Porter  plan  was  favorably  received  and  accepted  for 
future  action. 

With  the  plan  legalized  there  came  the  difficult  labor 
of  obtaining  the  co-operation  of  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road Company,  the  abutting  property  owners,  and  the 
various  civic  societies  working  for  public  improvements. 
There  were  many  hitches,  misunderstandings,  back-sets 
by  the  commercially  inclined,  and  legal  obstacles. 
Public  agitation  was  kept  up  and  the  obstacles  were  so 
speedily  overcome  that  in  a  few  months  all  interests  were 
working  in  harmony  with  the  Alderman,  and  the  pro- 
ject was  pushed  through. 

The  ordinance  was  submitted  in  June,  1894,  and  in 
the  following  November  the  agitation  had  resulted  in  the 
general  adoption,  without  change,  of  the  plan  first  out- 
lined by  Mr.  Madden.  He  had  done  his  part  of  the  work 
so  carefully,  even  to  the  task  of  ascertaining  what  the 
railway  corporation  might   be  induced  to  do,  that  it  was 


184  MARTIN   B.  MADDEN 

found  that  he  had  anticipated  and  prepared  for  all  the 
emergencies  and  was  able  to  successfully  meet  them  as 
they  arose.  Within  two  years  that  part  of  the  improve- 
ment lying  west  of  the  railway  was  finished  and  turned 
over  to  the  public,  the  retaining  wall  outside  the  1,250 
foot  eastern  line  was  completed  and  much  of  the  filling 
in  accomplished. 

The  Lake  Front  Park  is  an  accomplished  fact  for  the 
preservation  forever  from  all  but  public  use  of  the  mag- 
nificent water  front  of  Chicago.  When  the  whole  park 
plan  is  completed  it  will  do  more  than  all  other  schemes 
combined  to  make  the  city  the  desirable  place  of  residence 
nature  intended  it  to  be.  It  will  revolutionize  to  advan- 
tage the  dwelling  districts,  and  make  ideal  for  permanent 
homes  and  the  best  class  of  hotels  the  extreme  eastern 
section.  It  will  cause  a  gradual  "congregation  of  the 
shipping,  manufacturing,  wholesale  merchandising  and 
railway  business  of  the  city  along  the  internal  water 
lines,  the  least  desirable  place  of  residence,  and  confine 
most  of  the  trucking  and  heavy  handling  there,  leaving 
the  other  parts  of  the  town  free  from  its  necessary  dis- 
turbances. The  homes  of  the  people  and  their  shops, 
churches,  schools  and  meeting  places  will  be  free  from 
the  annoyances  and  dangers  of  heavy  traffic.  The 
artistic,  educational,  literary  and  theatrical  interests  will 
be  availably  neighborly.  The  galleries,  institutes, 
libraries,  museums,  and  exhibition  buildings  will  be 
grouped  and  arrayed  together  more  conveniently  and 
more  impressively  than  similar  structures  can  be  in  other 
places  in  the  world.  The  lake  front  of  Chicago  will  be 
the  future  pride  of  the  west,  and  to  visitors  from  all  the 
countries  will  be  the  scene  of  a  life  travelers  will  pay 


,      PUBLIC  SERVANT  185 

much  money  and  come  long  distances  to  witness.  No 
legislator  ever  performed  for  his  public  a  better  or  more 
enduring  service  than  was  done  when  this  land  was 
secured  for  public  use,  and  no  public  servant  ever  left  a 
better  monument. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


SECURES  GOVERNMENT  HELP  FOR  CHICAGO   TRADE— A  CONVINCING 

ARGUMENT. 


DURING  the  navigation  season  of  1895  it  became, 
apparent  to  all  the  commercial  interests  of  the 
Middle  West  that  the  port  facilities  of  Chicago,  through 
neglect  of  the  Federal  authorities,  were  rapidly  becom- 
ing inadequate  for  national  needs.  A  great  movement 
was  organized  to  bring  the  subject  to  the  active  atten- 
tion of  the  Washington  Government.  This  resulted  in 
the  winter  of  1896  in  the  formation  of  a  representative 
committee  of  influential  citizens  to  go  before  Congress 
and  solicit  intervention.  On  this  body  the  lake  marine 
interests  appointed  representatives,  as  also  did  the  Board 
of  Trade,  the  coal  dealers,  the  manufacturers,  the  com- 
mercial men  and  the  corporation  of  Chicago.  At  the 
last  moment,  the  Chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee  of 
the  city  legislature  was  induced  to  go  as  the  municipal- 
ity's spokesman. 

The  National  treasury,  although  it  had  expended  con- 
siderable amounts  in  the  improvement  of  the  outer  har- 
bor at  the  mouth  of  the  Chicago  River,  had  never  allowed 
but  $25,000  for  any  increase  of  navigation  in  the  stream 
beyond  the  first  or  lowest  bridge,  that  at  Rush  Street. 
The  river  being  a  navigable  water,  had  since  the  earliest 
navigation  laws  been  under  Washington  control.  Chicago 
was  willing  to  handle  the  whole  question  if  the  govern- 

186 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  187 

ment  would  relinquish  its  authority  and  turn  the  river 
over  to  the  city's  custody.  This  being  out  of  the  ques- 
tion, it  was  determined  to  ask  for  sufficient  aid  to  enable 
the  business  of  the  town  to  be  fairly  accommodated  on 
the  waterway  it  could  not  regulate.  Estimates  of  all 
immediate  needs  were  carefully  made  up.  They  showed 
that  the  sum  of  $700,000  was  requiredf  at  once.  The 
committee  went  before  the  Committee  on  Rivers  and 
Harbors  and  asked  it  to  set  that  amount  aside  for  the 
necessary  improvement  of  the  Chicago  River  in  the  annual 
appropriation  bill  then  being  prepared  for  submission  to 
Congress. 

The  addresses  made  were  all  unusually  able.  The 
Tribune,  in  its*  dispatches  describing  the  proceedings, 
without  any  reservation  or  disparagement  whatever, 
unhesitatingly  pronounced  the  argument  made  by  Mr. 
Madden  on  behalf  of  the  city  the  one  that  convinced 
Congress  and  led  to  action.  He  took  ground  at  the  very 
beginning  of  his  speech  that  the  question  was  wholly 
national  and  in  no  sense  local.  The  appropriation 
requested  was  for  the  purpose  of  so  increasing  general 
transportation  as  to  keep  down  and  lower  the  prices  of 
the  necessities  of  life  in  the  whole  Middle  West  and  of 
food  in  the  entire  country.  Chicago  had  not  only  become 
the  manufacturing  and  distributing  center  for  upwards  of 
half  the  population  of  the  country,  but  it  had  developed 
into  the  main  source  of  supply  for  all  its  people  of  their 
two  principal  items  of  food— meat  and  grain.  The  trade 
in  animal  products  had  so  concentrated  in  Chicago  that 
it  was  the  country's  market  for  most  of  the  live  stock 
raised  for  the  American  table,  and  the  city's  "abattoirs 
furnished  meat  even  to  foreign  countries.      The  largest 


188  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

aggregation  of  capital  engaged  in  the  furnishing  of  any 
single  commodity  of  human  consumption  was  that 
invested  in  the  stock-yard  business  of  Chicago.  The  city 
had  also  become  the  grain  market  for  the  whole  civilized 
world.  Its  elevators  had  a  storage  capacity  of  40,000,000 
bushels  at  a  time.  Leaving  all  other  considerations  aside, 
the  population  of  the  entire  country  was  directly  inter- 
ested in  having  every  means  of  transportation  to  and 
from  Chicago  both  enlarged  and  cheapened,  in  order  to 
favorably  affect  the  prices  of  the  two  main  articles  of 
human  food  whose  production  and  distribution  in  their 
final  forms  of  consumption  had  by  the  operation  of 
natural  laws  centered  in  the  city.  Formerly,  he  went 
on,  when  boats  drew  but  little  water  they  easily  com- 
peted with  success  in  the  work  of  transportation  and  kept 
the  rates  down.  When  the  railways  substituted  steel 
rails  for  iron  and  were  enabled  to  run  larger  and  heavier 
trains,  the  boats  had  only  to  increase  their  draught  to 
remain  in  the  race  and  cause  further  lessening  of  trans- 
portation charges  on  food  products.  So  long  as  the  boats 
could  be  lengthened  and  deepened,  water  transportation 
worked  in  the  interest  of  all  the  people  in  lowering  and 
keeping  down  freight  rates,  by  preventing  the  railways 
from  obtaining  a  monopoly  of  the  carrying  through  their 
augmented  power  of  handling  by  means  of  the  enormous 
improvement  in  their  power.  The  steam  roads  had  now, 
however,  passed  the  point  in  competition  where  the  boats 
could  longer  retain  their  proper  share  of  carriage,  for 
the  reason  that  rail  power  had  gone  beyond  the  tonnage 
possible  any  longer  to  the  capacity  of  boats.  The  waters 
had  remained  stationary  in  depth  and  the  boats  had  at 
last  in  their  draught  reached  their  limit,  and  could  no 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  189 

longer  by  enlargement  compete  with  the  roads  unless  the 
navigable  streams  at  harbors  should  be  artificially  deep- 
ened. Until  this  was  done  the  carrying  trade  would 
gradually  be  monopolized  by  the  railways  and  the  prices 
of  products  would  correspondingly  be  increased.  At 
least  they  would  not  be  lowered  as  they  would  have  to 
be  if  the  water  transportation  were  maintained  by  enlarg- 
ing its  facilities. 

Statistics  demonstrated  the  truth  of  all  his  contention, 
Mr.  Madden  argued.  When  the  capacity  of  the  rail- 
roads through  improvement  in  their  carrying  power  got 
beyond  the  full  competition  of  the  boats  because  of  their 
inability  to  further  increase  their  holds,  the  former  began 
to  control  the  transportation  to  and  from  Chicago  in  a 
way  unfavorable  to  its  trade  because  injurious  to  the 
prices  of  products  of  general  demand  and  universal 
human  necessity. 

Anthracite  coal,  an  eastern  product,  was  too  costly 
under  rail  transportation  for  general  consumption  in 
Illinois.  By  water  transportation  it  had  been  delivered 
at  prices  that  had  found  for  it  an  annual  market  in  Chi- 
cago of  1,475,237  tons  in  1892.  Then, the  boats  having  been 
largely  superseded  by  the  cars  in  the  coal  carrying  trade, 
prices  began  to  rise  and  consumption  to  fall  away.  In 
1893  the  trade  fell  off  about  50,000  tons;  in  1894  the 
consumption  had  declined  198,000  tons,  and  in  1895  it 
was  206,665  tons  less  than  it  had  been  before  the  roads 
took  the  transportation  of  it  away  from  the  boats.  Dur- 
ing these  same  three  years  the  population  of  the  city  had 
increased  nearly  500,000. 

The  receipts  of  grain  by  water  had  from  the  same 
cause  so  fallen  off  that  in  1895  the  city  got  by  boat  but 


190  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

1,629,023  bushels,  although  in  that  same  year  it  sent 
away  no  less  than  82,300,214  bushels,  in  addition  to 
1,507,543  barrels  of  flour  and  4,063,720  packages  of  mis- 
cellaneous freight.  In  1895  but  2,000,000,000  feet  of 
lumber  came  to  Chicago  by  water,  on  which  formerly 
nearly  all  that  came  was  brought,  while  by  rail  there  came 
1 ,  000, 000, 000,  feet. 

The  reason  for  the  decline  of  the  boat  carrying  and 
the  increase  of  that  of  the  cars  was  that  the  river  along 
which  most  of  both  terminated  and  started  was  no  longer 
deep  enough  to  allow  large  water  cargoes  to  be  handled 
without  lightering  and  other  expensive  aids.  The  cost 
of  handling  freight  at  the  wharves  had  risen  until  it  now 
amounted  to  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  whole  transpor- 
tation charges  each  way.  If  the  river  were  sufficiently 
deepened  this  cost  could  be  reduced  until  it  would 
become  merely  nominal. 

The  entire  population  of  the  United  States  had  a  vital 
interest  in  the  deepening  of  the  Chicago  River  and  the 
maintenance  of  its  competition  with  the  railroads,  as  the 
river  was  the  greatest  factor  in  the  country  in  the  busi- 
ness regulation  of  the  prices  of  meat  and  flour.  The 
problem  was  in  no  sense  a  local  one.  It  was  not  a  Chicago 
question,  nor  an  Illinois  question.  It  was  clearly  a 
national  one.  The  arrivals  and  departures  of  vessels  at 
Chicago  during  the  year  1895  aggregated  15,324,  nearly 
as  many  as  the  combined  arrivals  at  Baltimore,  Boston, 
New  Orleans,  Philadelphia,  and  San  Francisco.  This 
fact  showed  better  than  any  other  how  closely  interested 
all  the  people  of  the  country  were  in  the  shipping  busi- 
ness of  the  city.  When  in  addition  to  the  vast  harbor 
activity  of  the  city,  there  was  added  for  contemplation 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  191 

the  connection  of  the  80,000  miles  of  railway  that  had 
terminals  along  the  river,  there  could  be  no  doubt  that 
the  nation  had  a  better  reason  for  caring  for  this  interior 
harbor  than  it  possessed  for  the  guardianship  of  any  sim- 
ilar length  of  water  frontage  in  its  whole  domain. 

The  river  had  a  dockage  front  of  214,296  feet,  and 
the  people  of  Chicago  had  themselves  expended  in  dredg- 
ing this  national  waterway  $979,000.  The  request  now 
was  that  the  Government  take  hold  of  this  invaluable 
arm  of  commerce  and  put  it  into  such  modern  shape  as 
would  enable  it  to  do  what  nature  had  so  evidently 
intended  it  to  perform — regulate  favorably  for  all  the 
people  of  the  country  the  cost  of  their  meat  and  their 
bread,  by  making  it  easier  and  cheaper  to  concentrate 
the  elements  of  that  food  in  the  place  best  fitted  to  pre- 
pare them  for  consumption,  and  easier  and  cheaper  after- 
wards to  distribute  it  thence  to  all  who  needed  it. 

The  effect  of  the  speeches,  and  especially  that  deliv- 
ered by  Mr.  Madden,  was  so  great  that  Chairman 
Hooker,  of  the  Rivers  and  Harbors  Committee  of  the 
House,  at  once  declared  that  the  Chicago  proposition  was 
entirely  meritorious  and  would  be  acceded  to.  It  had 
been  arranged  t6  have  appearances  before  the  War  and 
other  departments  concerned  in  the  question,  but  Mr. 
Hooker's  assurance  made  further  agitation  unnecessary. 
The  $700,000  appropriation  asked  for  was  granted.  Then 
began  the  work  of  making  the  interior  waterways  of 
Chicago  a  harbor  of  the  depth  required  for  modern 
marine  commerce.  The  improvement  is  still  going  on, 
and  when  completed,  as  it  soon  will  be,  it  will  give  the 
city  a  twenty- six-foot  depth  of  navigable  water  along  a 
course,  including  the  Drainage  Canal,  of  nearly  a  hundred 
miles  through  the  very  middle  of  the  whole  city. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


FIRST    REPUBLICAN    MANAGER    TO    DECLARE     FOR    GOLD — UNDER- 
TAKES  TO   GET  WORD   IN   PLATFORM. 


GOLD"  was  the  most  important  word  in  the  platform 
adopted  by  the  Republican  party  at  St.  Louis  in 
1896.  It  was  put  there  by  the  men  who  attended  from 
Illinois.  All  except  one  of  the  forty-eight  state  delegates 
voted  for  it. 

But  for  the  skillful  and  determined  action  of  these 
men  the  Republican  financial  plank  of  that  year  would 
have  been  a  "straddle."  In  that  event,  Mr.  McKinley 
would  not  have  had  the  support  of  the  Sound  Money  men 
from  the  Democratic  party,  nor  could  he  have  obtained 
that  marvelous  and  enthusiastic  electioneering  by  the 
banking  and  commercial  interests  of  the  North  which 
made  the  campaign  so  like  a  battle  for  the  preservation 
of  American  honor  and  integrity.  The  Gold  Democrats 
would  have  acted  by  themselves,  and  the  great  mass  of 
Silver  men  in  the  Republican  ranks  would  have  probably 
gone  over  in  a  body  to  Mr.  Bryan  after  his  convention 
unequivocally  declared  for  Silver,  as  they  would  not 
have  had  the  deterring  arguments  the  Democrats 
afforded  when  they  became  allies. 

When  the  word  "Gold"  was  forced,  as  it  was  forced, 
into  the  Republican  platform,  the  majority  of  the  party 
managers  were  strongly  averse  to  declaring  for  the  yel- 
low metal.     The  attitude  of  the  only  candidate  for  the 

192 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  193 

Presidential  nomination  was  in  doubt.  He  had  never 
made  a  public  declaration  for  Gold,  and  had  furnished 
many  arguments  that  were  being  quoted  for  the  cause  of 
Silver.  His  managers  at  the  time  believed  that  the  tariff 
question  would  be  the  main  issue  in  the  campaign,  and 
did  not  think  it  necessary  to  inject  the  financial  question 
into  the  argument.  They  correctly  represented  the 
sentiment  of  the  Eastern  States,  and,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  their  territory,  took  a  wise  and  politic  stand. 
Besides,  at  that  time  there  was  no  apparent  probability 
that  Mr.  Bryan  would  obtain  absolute  control  of  the 
Democratic  organization  seventeen  days  later,  have  him- 
self selected  as  its  standard  bearer,  compel  his  party  to 
declare  unequivocally  for  Free  Silver,  and  drive  the 
Jeffersonians  out  of  the  fold.  Few  delegates,  except 
those  from  the  Middle  West,  knew  who  Mr.  Bryan  was, 
or  had  any  suspicion  that  in  the  core  of  the  country  the 
Nebraskan  was  known  to  be  the  most  dangerous  man 
living  to  Republican  prospects,  and  that  his  financial 
ideas  were  the  political  bread  and  meat  of  a  constituency 
frenzied  with  zeal  in  their  propagation. 

The  country  had  grown  so  vast  that  ordinary  men 
seemed  unable  longer  to  maintain  comprehensive  knowl- 
edge of  all  its  conditions  and  to  realize  what  interests 
might  have  predominant  elements  over  those  really  local. 

Under  all  the  circumstances,  it  is  marvelous  that  the 
Illinois  men  were  able  to  understand  as  correctly  as  they 
did  the  true  conditions  at  the  time,  and  it  is  no  less 
extraordinary  that  they  were  able  to  carry  their  point. 

The  history  of  the  United  States  cannot  be  correctly 
written  for  future  readers,  that  is,  mankind,  without  just 
pages  carefully  devoted  to  the  saving  work  performed  by 

13 


194  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

the  Illinois  men  in  this  critical  period  of  the  nation's 
formative  growth.  All  through  the  story  there  will  be 
manifest  the  insight,  the  correct  judgment,  the  skill  in 
argument,  the  persuasive  power  of  speech,  as  well  as  the 
inspiring  patriotism,  tireless  energy  and  moral  force  of 
character  of  one  young  man.  His  parents  had  trained 
him  so  that  whatever  was  right  to  do  had  for  him 
allurement  to  endeavor.  They  were  made  of  patriotic 
mould,  and  in  public  life  he  could  not  help  reasoning 
that  what  was  best  for  the  nation  was  best  for  the  state, 
best  for  the  county,  best  for  the  locality,  and  best  for  the 
individual. 

All  through  these  six  volcanic  months  he  pushed 
straight  through  for  the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest 
number,  just  as  he  had  done  during  the  previous  six 
years,  whilst  financing  the  most  tumultuous  municipal 
growth  of  modern  times,  as  Chairman  of  the  Finance 
Committee  of  the  Council  of  the  City  of  Chicago. 

The  Silver  movement,  as  it  appeared  in  the  political 
agitation  of  1896,  may  correctly  be  said  to  have  had  its 
origin  in  Chicago.  All  the  scattered  elements  of  it  that 
had  previously  existed  were  collected  and  focused  by 
Harvey  about  two  years  before.  He  was  singularly 
single-minded  and  sincere.  His  genius  was  prodigiously 
sympathetic  to  parallelism,  to  the  impressions  which 
Aristotle  described  as  those  of  the  sequence-consequence 
kind.  To  Harvey  a  sequence  was  always  a  consequence. 
When  he  saw  an  effect,  his  logic  invariably  perceived 
the  cause  of  it  in  the  thing  that  most  immediately  pre- 
ceded it.  He  would  have  convicted  Joseph  of  the  alleged 
theft  of  the  silver  cup  simply  because  it  was  found  in  the 
young  man's  sack;    and  if  a  physician,  he  would  have 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  195 

prescribed   rhubarb  for  a  patient  who    had  swallowed 
tacks  if  he  had  subsequently  eaten  cheese. 

Harvey  saw  distress  general  in  the  country.  Millions 
of  workers  were  idle,  tramps  abounded,  farmers  could 
not  get  living  prices  for  products.  Money  in  actual  circu- 
lation was  scarce.  It  was,  he  thought,  dear  because  it 
was  scarce.  Being  dear,  employers  could  not  afford  to 
pay  former  wages,  and  eaters  could  not  afford  to  give  so 
much  of  it  for  food;  hence,  farmers  had  to  give  more 
grain  for  a  dollar  and  laborers  more  work.  Why  was 
money  scarce?  There  was  now  only  one  standard  money 
— gold.  Formerly  there  had  been  two  standard  moneys 
— silver  and  gold.  There  was  as  much  of  one  metal  as  of 
the  other  in  the  world.  Therefore,  when  both  metals 
were  coined  into  standard  money,  there  must  have  been 
twice  as  much  money  in  circulation,  and  at  that  time 
farmers  and  laborers  must  have  been  able  to  obtain  twice 
as  much  for  their  grain  and  labor.  When  was  silver 
discarded  as  standard  money?  In  1873.  Who  were  in 
power  then?  The  Republicans.  How  much  silver  and 
gold  then?  $4,000,000,000  of  each — $8,000,000,000  alto- 
gether. By  confining  the  standard  to  gold,  $4,000,000,000 
of  silver  was  dropped  from  use  as  money,  and  gold  was 
given  the  monopoly  of  money  work.  Having  twice  as 
much  now  to  do  as  formerly,  there  being  a  doubled 
demand  for  it,  gold  had  multiplied  in  value,  and  the 
laborer  now  had  to  give  correspondingly  more  work  for  a 
gold  dollar,  and  the  farmer  more  grain.  Where  formerly 
the  one  got  a  dollar  a  day,  he  must  now  work  for  fifty 
cents;  and  where  the  other  got  a  hundred  cents  a  bushel 
for  his  wheat,  l\e  now  had  to  sell  for  half  a  dollar.  ■  The 
act  of  1873  was,  therefore,  a  conspiracy  against  labor 


196  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

and  agriculture  by  the  gold,  or  money,  power,  which 
was  aiming  to  enslave  the  world  by  reducing  the  condi- 
tions of  labor  and  agriculture  to  those  of  mere  existence 
and  consequent  servitude.  The  Republican  party  was 
responsible  for  this  and  should  be  kept  from  power.  The 
Democratic  party  would  restore  the  standard  value  again 
to  silver  and  would  double  the  wages  of  labor  and  raise 
the  price  of  wheat. 

Harvey  devoted  all  his  energy  to  the  task  of  search- 
ing for  sequences  and  then  used  all  his  sophistical  skill 
in  marshaling  them  into  array.  The  result  was  the 
book,  "Coin  at  School."  This  was  beyond  comparison 
the  most  effective  campaign  document  ever  circulated  in 
the  United  States  up  to  that  time.  The  unrelated  char- 
acter of  its  parallels  was  exceedingly  difficult  to  discover 
by  any  but  trained  minds,  and,  when  noticed,  was  of 
such  a  nature  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  clearly 
expose  it  in  any  terse  and  lucid  way.  "Coin"  sold 
by  the  hundred  thousand,  and  its  philosophy  was  so 
captivating  that  scores  of  Republican  newspapers  through- 
out the  West  devoted  their  energies  to  circulating  it 
either  by  continued  quotations  or  open  free  distribution. 
Mine  owners  organized  lyceums  and  defrayed  the  whole 
expense  of  keeping  the  ablest  orators  employed  lecturing 
or  debating  on  the  topics  of  the  book.  So  great  was  the 
effect  that  when  the  National  parties  began  the  work  of 
electing  delegates  to  the  nominating  conventions  of  1896 
it  is  fair  to  say  the  financial  question  was  the  liveliest 
that  had  ever  agitated  the  West;  and  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  at  this  time  practically  all  the  people  with  Demo- 
cratic leanings  in  the  region  between  Ohiq^and  the  Pacific 
were  Free  Silverites,  and  that  a  powerful  minority  of 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  197 

their  Republican  neighbors  shared  the  same  financial 
views  with  them.  In  some  of  the  states  both  parties 
raced  to  get  ahead  of  each  other  in  proclaiming  for  Free 
Silver.  In  California  al]  the  four  parties  in  existence  in 
that  commonwealth,  including  the  Republican,  officially 
declared  in  their  platforms  for  the  free  and  unlimited 
coinage  of  silver  at  the  ratio  of  sixteen  to  one. 

The  Republican  delegates  from  Chicago  were  elected 
in  February,  1896.  Mr.  Madden  was  at  the  time  the 
party  leader  in  the  city.  At  the  first  conclave  the  finan- 
cial question  came  up,  and  he  was  asked  for  an  expres- 
sion of  his  views.  He  promptly  said  he  was  in  favor  of 
having  the  party  declare  itself  against  th*e  free  and  unlim- 
ited coinage  of  silver  at  the  ratio  of  sixteen  to  one,  and 
of  putting  the  word  Gold  in  the  financial  plank. 

This  was  the  first  declaration  of  the  kind  that  had 
been  made  in  the  West  by  any  man  prominent  in  the 
management  of  Republican  political  affairs.  It  created 
consternation  among  the  majority  of  hearers.  It  seemed 
like  a  flight  in  the  face  of  fate.  Men  asked  Mr.  Madden 
if  he  was  going  to  insist  on  having  the  party  commit 
hara-kiri.  It  was  pointed  out  to  him  that  all  the  legisla- 
tion respecting  silver  was  Republican  -legislation ;  that 
the  majority  of  the  party  were  friends  of  silver;  that  the 
Opposition  in  the  West  were  solidly  and  aggressively  for 
it,  and  that  to  proclaim  for  gold  would  not  only  make  it 
impossible  for  the  Republican  party  to  win  the  acces- 
sions it  needed  for  victory  from  the  opposite  ranks,  but 
would  drive  over  to  them  half  the  voters  it  had;  in  fact, 
it  would  simply  make  it  impossible  to  carry  on  a  cam- 
paign with  any  hope  at  all. 

Mr.  Madden  to  this  said  that  the  silver  movement 


198  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

was  wrong  and  mischievous  and  ought  to  be  defeated ; 
the  country  was  on  a  gold  basis  and  ought  to  be  kept 
there;  the  gold  basis  was  the  only  safe  one  for  the 
nation's  financial  affairs;  the  Republican  party  was  the 
only  party  that  could  keep  the  nation  where  it  was;  the 
silver  sentiment  was  a  delusion,  and  the  voters  could,  by 
intelligent  effort,  be  convinced  of  that;  the  gold  standard 
was  the  best  for  all  the  people  as  well  as  for  the  Govern- 
ment; this  could  be  proved  to  the  voters  by  campaign 
work,  and  that  the  only  way  to  do  was  to  declare  for 
Gold  and  then  set  to  work  to  bring  the  electors  to  that 
standard.  In  his  opinion,  there  could  be  no  doubt  of 
success  if  the  Republicans  were  straightforward  enough 
to  declare  their  real  convictions;  but  every  doubt  if  they 
resorted  to  evasion  or  indirection. 

The  meeting  ended  without  harmony.  It  was  man- 
ifest that  there  would  be  dissension  in  the  state  delega- 
tion over  the  wording  of  the  financial  plank.  Able  men 
predicted  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  bring  the  mem- 
bers into  accord  on  the  subject,  and  even  advised  against 
attempts  to  procure  it,  lest  bitterness,  rupture  and  scan- 
dal might  result.  u  While  it  was  hoped  that  the  majority 
of  the  state  delegates  might  be  gold  men  at  heart,  it  was 
also  feared  that  their  districts  would  be  so  strongly  for 
silver  as  to  make  it  practically  impossible  for  the  repre- 
sentatives to  declare  for  a  gold  plank. 

The  whole  state  was  entitled  to  forty-eight  delegates, 
of  which  number  Chicago's  share  was  sixteen,  including 
two  delegates-at-large.  When  all  the  district  delegates 
were  elected  a  careful  poll  disclosed  that  but  sixteen 
were  personally  in  favor  of  a  gold  plank,  and  many  of 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  199 

these  doubted  the  expediency  of  mak:'  lg  any  declaration 
on  the  subject. 

The  general  opinion  was  that  the  best  thing  to  do 
would  be  to  reaffirm  the  plank  in  the  platform  of  1892, 
pledging  the  party  to  maintain  all  kinds  of  United  States 
money  at  par,  and  there  let  the  matter  rest. 

Mr  Madden  had  studied  the  question  profoundly,  and 
the  more  he  investigated  the  political  conditions  of  the 
country  the  more  firmly  convinced  he  became  that  the 
time  had  come  to  establish  the  gold  standard  by  law  as  it 
was  established  in  fact,  and  that  the  Republican  party 
could  not  win  the  election  unless  it  openly  committed 
itself  to  the  task.  He  saw  clearly  that  a  declaration  for 
Gold  was  the  only  thing  that  in  1896  would  draw  out  the 
full  business  vote  of  the  country,  and  that  this  would  go 
to  the  party  making  the  declaration.  He  also  reasoned 
that  if  the  Democrats  declared  for  Silver,  their  party 
would  divide  and  that  the  gold  wing  would  help  the 
Republicans  establish  the  gold  standard.  These  two 
gains  would  far  more  than  offset  any  defection  of  Silver 
Republicans  which  a  Democratic  silver  declaration 
might  bring  about.  He  knew  that  the  old  line  Demo- 
crats were  uncompromisingly  for  gold,  while  the  Silver 
Republicans  entertained  for  the  white  metal  a  sentiment 
only  and  that  that  was  not  so  strong  as  their  feeling  for 
Protection.  The  Opposition  would  certainly  declare  for 
Free  Trade  and  that  would  keep  the  great  majority  of 
the  Republicans  at  home  just  as  surely  as  the  pronounce- 
ment on  the  other  side  for  soft  money  would  drive  the 
evicted  Jacksonians  over  for  shelter. 

He  undertook  the  task  of  securing  unity  among  his 
colleagues  in  favor  of  his  view.      By  the  time  the  State 


200  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

Convention  met  at  Springfield  in  April  to  nominate  a 
Gubernatorial  tic1  it,  the  fourteen  Cook  County  district 
delegates  were  in  favor  of  declaring  for  Gold.  Proselyt- 
ing was  zealously  carried  on  at  the  State  Convention, 
and  when  it  adjourned  thirty-six  of  the  delegates  to 
St.  Louis  favored  a  declaration  for  Sound  Money. 

At  the  State  Convention  Mr.  R.  W.  Patterson,  man- 
ager of  the  Chicago  Tribune,  and  Mr.  William  Penn 
Nixon,  editor  of  the  Inter-Ocean,  were  elected  delegates- 
at-large  to  St.  Louis.  The  Tribune  had  all  along  been 
the  uncompromising  foe  of  the  Silver  movement,  while 
the  Inter- Ocean  had  permitted  the  Silver  Republicans  to 
argue  their  cause  in  its  columns.  It  was  a  master-stroke 
by  Mr.  Madden  to  get  these  gentlemen  on  the  delega- 
tion. H.  H.  Kohlsaat,  proprietor  of  the  Chicago  Even- 
ing Post 'and  morning  Times-Herald,  and  a  close  personal 
friend  of  Mr.  McKinley  and  Mr.  Hanna,  became  inter- 
ested in  the  Illinois  movement,  and  gave  it  all  the  assist- 
ance in  his  power. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


ILLINOIS   FORCES   "GOLD      INTO   ST.   LOUIS    PLATFORM—THE   ARGU- 
MENT   THAT    WON. 


AT  this  time,  what  was  evident  to  the  Eastern  people, 
who  lived  in  the  manufacturing  section  of  the 
country,  was  the  depression  in  manufacture.  The  mills 
were  either  idle  or  running  on  reduced  time.  It  was  in 
that  region  plain  that  the  Wilson  Bill,  by  reducing  the 
tariff  on  goods  made  here  as  well  as  in  Europe,  had  pre- 
sented the  amount  of  the  reduction  to  the  foreign  man- 
ufacturers, that  they  were  using  this  bonus  to  undersell 
the  Americans  by  the  amount  of  it,  and  that  this  advan- 
tage had  transferred  employment  from  the  United  States 
to  Europe,  and  was  keeping  its  mills  open  and  ours  shut. 
It  is  no  wonder,  then,  that  the  Eastern  delegates  went 
to  St.  Louis  thoroughly  convinced  that  there  could  be 
but  one  issue  in  the  campaign — the  restoration  of  Protec- 
tion. To  them  there  was  no  money  question  to  be  dis- 
cussed. Money  had  had  nothing  to  do,  they  argued, 
with  the  closing  of  the  factories.  It  is  noteworthy  that 
no  Eastern  man  during  the  campaign  of  that  year,  pro- 
duced any  of  the  vote-making  arguments  on  the  money 
question — they  all  originated  in  the  West,  the  majority 
in  Illinois,  and  the  most  effective  in  Chicago. 

In  the  Middle  West,  on  the  other  hand,  agriculture  is 
the  principal  occupation  of  the  people,  although  in  1896 
there  was  enough  manufacturing  carried  on  among  them 

?,01 


202  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

to  familiarize  them  with  its  advantages  as  a  producer  of 
home  markets  and  with  the  main  arguments  in  favor  of 
protective  tariffs.  But  they  did  not  see  with  their  own 
eyes  the  kind  of  idleness,  want  and  general  paralysis 
witnessed  in  the  East.  What  they  saw  was  the  scarcity 
of  money;  the  difficulty  of  getting  any;  their  country 
overrun  by  tramps;  unparalleled  depression  in  prices  for 
their  products,  and  the  difficulty  of  finding  markets  at 
any  price.  Their  country  was  yet  new,  and  most  of  its 
people  were  still  mortgaged  for  their  homesteads.  For 
the  solvent  it  was  difficult  to  get  money  to  pay  the  regu- 
larly recurring  demands  of  interest,  and  thousands  of  the 
newly- started  were  bankrupt,  with  foreclosure  staring  at 
them,  or  entirely  dispossessed.  The  vast  majority  of 
these  nation  builders  were  patriotic  to  the  heart  and 
attached  to  the  party  of  Lincoln.  They  were  looking 
forward  with  hope  to  St.  Louis.  They  were  praying 
that  there  the  right  remedy  for  the  ills  of  their  section 
would  be  decided  on.  To  them  that  was  the  rehabilita- 
tion of  silver  by  a  restoration  of  its  free  and  unlimited 
coinage  at  the  old  ratio  of  sixteen  to  one.  This,  they 
believed,  would  make  money  again  plentiful,  so  that 
they  could  get  fair  enough  prices  for  their  products  to 
save  their  homes  and  maintain  themselves  upon  their  feet. 
It  was  apparent  that  these  people  wanted  silver  legisla- 
tion and  were  indifferent  to  the  tariff  question;  and  it 
was  equally  plain  that  if  they  did  not  receive  satisfactory 
assurance  of  it  at  St.  Louis  they  might  seek  it  at  Chicago 
and  join  the  party  that  gave  it  to  them. 

When  the  Illinois  delegation  reached  St.  Louis  the 
members  from  Cook  County  were  practically  united  in 
favor  of  demanding  a  party   declaration   for   Gold,  and 


PUBLIC   SERVANT  203 

twenty-two  of  the  country  delegates  were  individually 
supporters  of  the  movement  to  secure  such  a  pronounce- 
ment. 

Nearly  every  one  of  the  state  and  territorial  delega- 
tions was  accompanied  by  large  bodies  of  citizens 
intensely  interested  in  having  the  Convention  do  the  best 
thing  possible  for  curing  the  country  of  the  awful  ills 
afflicting  it.  It  would  be  a  moderate  statement  to  say 
that  20  ooo  American  citizens,  representing  every  inter- 
est and  section  in  the  whole  country,  each  one  intensely 
concerned  in  the  outcome,  went  with  the  delegates  to  St. 
Louis  to  actively  advise,  assist  and  otherwise  take  part 
in  the  proceedings.  When  all  had  arrived  and  the  differ- 
ent delegations  had  reported  and  quartered,  there  was  a 
rush  to  a  general  mix-up  and  exchange  of  views  for  the 
purpose  of  arranging  forces  in  the  coming  contest  No 
one  but  an  American  who  has  seen  the  spectacle  can 
form  anything  like  a  correct  idea  of  the  confused  but 
overwhelming  appearance  of  the  power  exhibited  by  one 
of  these  mix-ups.  Forty-five  states  and  seven  territories 
on  the  ground  with  2,000  picked  mental  gladiators, 
attended  by  20,000  backers,  every  man  the  best  his  home 
can  produce,  about  to  engage  in  a  battle  for  the  safety 
of  a  country,  for  which  each  would  cheerfully  give  all 
his  blood,  in  a  mingle  for  advice  as  how  best  to  line-up — 
it  is  the  superbest  contest  of  brains  the  whole  world  can 
now  afford.  In  that  great  crowd  of  all  strong  men,  each 
picked  at  home  as  the  fittest  there,  they  only  surmount 
to  final  control  who  possess  ability  indeed  supreme. 

The  Illinois  delegates  went  in  thirty-six  for  gold,  came 
out  forty-seven  to  one  for  it.  When  the  whole  mix-up 
was  ended,  it  was  found  that  the  state's  men  had  pulled 


m  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

over  to  their  proposed  alignment  so  many  other  dele- 
gates that  the  commonwealth  was  perforce  accorded  the 
preparation  of  the  financial  plank.  The  Committee  on 
Resolutions  accepted  it  as  the  Illinois  men  made  it,  and 
such  a  party  majority  of  votes  was  at  last  brought  over 
that  when  the  platform  was  finally  read  in  the  Conven- 
tion the  declaration  for  the  gold  standard  was  applauded 
as  by  thunder. 

And  what  was  the  argument  that  prevailed?  It  was 
the  one  Madden  and  his  Chicago  colleagues  had  been 
spreading  for  five  months;  the  same  that  started  at 
Chicago  in  February  with  one  delegate,  then  was  used  by 
fourteen,  then,  Springfield,  had  thirty-six  missionaries, 
and  reached  St.  Louis  with  forty-seven  zealots,  and  there 
captured  the  whole  Convention.  This  is  the  way  it 
ran: 

The  East  wanted  Protection ;  its  labor  was  idle,  with- 
out market.  The  West  wanted  money,  its  crops  not 
paying  for  the  raising,  the  markets  being  too  low.  The 
East  manufactured  for  the  West  and  the  West  fed  the 
East.  When  Eastern  men  were  all  employed  at  good 
wages,  as  they  had  been  before  the  passage  of  the  Wilson 
Bill  in  1892,  they  spent  the  greater  part  of  their  income 
every  week  for  food,  for  the  cereals  and  the  meat  the 
West  raised. 

With  full  employment  American  labor  bought  94  per 
cent,  of  all  the  farmer  had  to  sell.  The  rest  of  the 
world  bought  only  6  per  cent.  When  American  labor 
was  idle,  the  foreign  market  did  not  buy  any  more  than 
its  usual  6  per  cent,  but  the  home  market  took  less 
than  the  usual  94  per  cent.,  leaving  the  difference  on  the 
farmer's  hands.     That  lowered  prices  and  made  money 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  205 

in  the  West  scarce  by  reducing  the  farmer's  receipts  for 
his  crops.  The  idleness  of  American  workingmen  dur- 
ing the  past  four  years  had  resulted  in  such  food  econ- 
omies that  in  flour  alone  they  consumed  180,000,000 
bushels  of  wheat  less  during  the  year  just  gone  than  they 
ate  in  the  average  twelve  months  before  the  Wilson  Bill 
was  passed.  That  bill  had,  therefore,  cost  the  American 
farmer  a  market  that  formerly  took  every  year  180,000,- 
000  bushels  of  his  wheat,  to  say  nothing  of  the  corre- 
sponding amount  of  his  other  products.  No  foreign  mar- 
ket took  so  much  as  that  market  lost  had  taken.  This 
180,000,000  bushels  of  wheat  was  left  unsold  on  the  farm- 
er's hands.  It  reduced  the  price  of  all  his  wheat,  cur- 
tailing his  money  receipts,  and,  unless  fed  to  stock,  was 
almost  a  dead  loss.  How  came  this  loss?  The  Wilson 
Bill,  being  a  free  trade  measure,  reduced  the  protection 
on  American  manufactures  below  the  safeguarding  line. 
Every  cent  of  the  reduction  was  a  bonus  to  the  foreign 
manufacturer,  given  to  induce  him  to  come  in  and  take 
our  home  market.  He  had  used  the  gift  to  undersell  our 
manufacturers  by  the  whole  amount  of  the  bonus.  That 
underselling  had  closed  our  factories,  thrown  our  laborers 
out  of  work,  made  them  poor,  and  rendered  them  unable 
to  spend  as  much  money  for  food  as  they  formerly  had 
spent  and  would  again  spend  if  they  had  work  with 
which  to  get  it. 

The  amount  of  wages  these  men  formerly  paid  out  for 
food  over  and  above  the  amount  they  now  spent,  was  the 
sum  the  Wilson  Bill  had  caused  to  be  withdrawn  from 
circulation,  principally  in  the  West  and  there  almost 
entirely  among  the  farmers.  There  was  just  as  much 
money  now  in  the  country  as  there  had  been  before  the 


206  MARTIN   B.  MADDEN 

passage  of  the  Wilson  Bill,  but  that  act  had  locked  it  up 
from  the  wage  earners  of  the  country,  and,  as  a  conse- 
quence, from  the  farmers.  There  were  at  present  over 
4,000,000  men  in  the  country  entirely  or  partially  without 
employment  at  wages,  who  had  had  steady  work  at  high 
wages  before  1892.  Including  themselves  they  supported 
on  an  average  five  human  souls  each.  That  made  over 
20,000,000  people.  All  these  in  1891  had  money  to  buy 
all  the  food  they  wanted  every  week.  Few  of  them  at 
the  present  time  could  buy  more  than  the  merest  neces- 
sities of  life.  This  condition  was  the  real  source  of  the 
hard  times,  of  the  scarcity  of  money  in  circulation,  and 
of  the  depression  in  Western  agriculture.  The  cause  of 
it  was  the  Wilson  Bill.  The  remedy  was  the  repeal  of 
the  act.  That  would  restore  the  conditions  existing  up 
to  1892.  The  factories  would  be  re-opened,  the  idle  be 
re-employed,  wages  again  be  earned  and  spent  every 
week,  money  again  get  into  full  circulation,  the  home 
consumption  of  food  once  more  reach  94  per  cent,  of  the 
domestic  production,  the  farmer  be  relieved  of  the  sur- 
plus that  now  weighed  down  his  market,  and  he  would 
get  prices  that  would  yield  him  a  surplus  of  cash  instead 
of  a  surplus  of  products. 

No  uncommon  intelligence  is  needed  to  realize  how 
completely  such  an  argument,  duly  amplified,  cleared  the 
situation  and  accomplished  harmonious  action.  The 
question  of  standard  was  argued  as  one  of  policy  justified 
by  rightfulness.  The  country  was  on  a  gold  basis.  It 
had  been  placed  there  by  the  Democratic  party  in  1834 
and  simply  left  there  by  the  Republicans  in  their  legis- 
lation of  1873,  when  they  declared  for  a  resumption  of 
specie   payments  to  begin    in    1879.      At  the  time  the 


PUBLIC   SERVANT  207 

amount  of  silver  in  a  silver  dollar  was  worth  more  than 
the  amount  of  gold  in  a  gold  dollar.  It  would  have  been 
foolish,  as  well  as  futile,  to  then  legislate  for  the  free 
and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver  and  gold  at  the  ratio  of 
sixteen  to  one,  because  silver  was  worth  more  than  that 
ratio  and  would  not  have  gone  to  the  mint  to  be  coined 
for  less  than  its  value.  The  laws  passed  afterwards,  when 
silver,  through  overproduction,  fell  below  gold  in  value 
at  the  ratio  of  sixteen  to  one,  and  continued  to  fall,  and 
came  to  the  mint,  vastly  increased  the  money  in  circula- 
tion by  artificially  maintaining  silver  money  at  the  value 
of  that  in  gold.  To  then  legalize  the  free  coinage  of  both 
metals  at  the  ratio  would  have  driven  gold  out  of  circula- 
tion, lessened  the  currency  and  compelled  creditors  to  set- 
tle for  less  than  was  due  them.  The  restricted  coinage  of 
silver  increased  the  amount  of  it  used  as  money  by  about 
sixty-six  times  as  much  as  had  been  coined  during  the 
entire  period  of  the  eighty  odd  years  of  free  coinage,  and 
kept  all  the  gold  that  came  to  the  mint  in  circulation 
besides.  By  this  system  whatever  profit  there  was  in 
buying  silver  at  the  market  value  and  coining  it  at  gold 
value,  fell  to  the  Government  or  whole  people  back  of 
the  guaranty,  and  the  Government  always  had  gold  with 
which  to  transact  its  business  with  the  world,  which  was 
on  a  gojd  basis.  Under  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  sil- 
ver at  the  ratio  of  sixteen  to  one  gold  would  not  go  to  the 
mint  to  be  coined  for  less  than  its  value  and  would 
retreat  from  circulation,  diminishing  it,  and  any  person 
having  silver,  no  matter  what  it  cost,  could  compel  the 
Government  to  coin  it  for  him,  stamping  fifty  cents  worth 
of  it  a  dollar  worth  ioo  cents,  and  then  make  creditors 
take  it  at  the  stamped  value,  with  no  guaranty  of  any 


208  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

value.  To  realize  the  enormotis  criminality  of  this  prop- 
osition one  needed  to  Contemplate  only  the  result  to  the 
millions  of  people  in  the  country  who  had  wages  due  or 
money  out  at  interest,  either  in  banks,  insurance  com- 
panies, building  and  loan  associations,  mortgages,  notes, 
due  bills,  or  accounts,  the  vast  majority  of  our  people 
being  creditors,  the  banks,  insurance  companies,  rail- 
road companies,  etc.,  being  the  debtors.  In  the  single 
state  of  New  York  at  the  time  1,700,000  depositors  had 
$600,000,000  in  the  savings  banks  of  that  state,  outnum- 
bering the  electors  in  the  commonwealth  by  500,000. 

It  was  safe  to  calculate  that  if  the  Republican  party 
declared  for  adhesion  to  the  Gold  Standard,  and  the 
Opposition  should  oppose  it  and  advocate  that  of  Silver, 
the  discussions  of  the  campaign  would  rally  to  the 
Republican  ranks  the  labor,  the  business  and  the  finan- 
cial interests  of  the  country.  Each  of  these  desired  the 
best  money  in  the  world.  Gold  was  that,  because  it  was 
invariable  in  value,  everywhere  receivable  without  dis- 
count, while  silver  was  variable  in  worth,  with  a  constant 
downward  tendency.  The  laborer  knew  the  difference 
just  as  well  as  the  business  man  did,  and  he  was  even 
more  particular  about  the  quality  of  the  money  he 
received,  as  he  was  less  able  to  afford  risk. 

If  the  declaration  honestly  and  manfully  used  the 
word  Gold  unequivocally,  and  the  Opposition  declared 
for  Silver,  the  result  would  be  that  the  old  line  Demo- 
crats would  come  over  in  a  body  to  assist  to  keep  the 
nation  permanently  on  the  basis  whereon  their  party  had 
originally  placed  it. 

Looking  back,  after  five  years'  discussion  of  the  money 
question,  it  may  now  be  difficult  to  realize  how  original, 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  209 

powerful  and  far-seeing  this  argument,  given  here  only 
in  the  most  abbreviatd  form  without  any  of  the  brilliant 
and  interesting  illustrations  that  accompanied  it,  then 
was.  Educated,  prominent  men  there  were  at  the  Con- 
vention who  admitted  that  before  hearing  the  Illinois 
argument,  they  had  not  known  what  sixteen  to  one  meant, 
or  the  difference  between  a  gold  or  silver  certificate  and 
an  ordinary  national  bank  note,  supposing  them  all  to  be 
Government  bills. 

It  was  the  action  of  the  Illinois  delegates  at  the 
Springfield  Convention,  where  they  instructed  for  McKin- 
ley,  that  decided  his  nomination  at  St.  Louis  by  assuring 
to  him  the  needed  votes  there ;  and  it  was  the  work  of  the 
same  delegates  at  St.  Louis  which  made  his  election  cer- 
tain by  inducing  the  party  to  make  the  platform  declara- 
tion that  drew  the  majority  of  real  Democrats  in  the 
country  to  his  support 


14 


CHAPTER  XXL 


COOK  COUNTY   REPUBLICANS    MISREPRESENTED — MADDENS   SACRI- 
FICE   IN    THEIR    BEHALF— MARVELOUS 
PERSONAL   VICTORY. 


AFTER  the  Cook  County  delegation  was  chosen  to 
represent  the  Republican  party  at  the  nominating 
Convention  to  be  held  at  St.  Louis,  it  took  action  at  its 
first  assembly  that  has  ever  since  been  misunderstood 
and  misrepresented.  The  false  conception  of  what  these 
men  did  was  spread  and  denounced  and  came  near  dis- 
rupting the  party  in  the  state. 

The  center  of  population  had  moved  to  a  point  in 
Indiana  close  to  Chicago,  and  it  was  believed  throughout 
the  country  that  the  action  of  Illinois  would  not  only 
decide  both  Presidential  nominations  but  determine  the 
result  of  the  election.  It  was  largely  owing  to  these 
considerations  that  both  parties  selected  places  near  the 
center  of  population  for  holding  their  nominating  con- 
venings,  the  Democratic  at  Chicago  and  the  Republican 
at  St.  Louis.  The  contest  for  delegates  was  keen  and 
thorough,  each  political  organization  doing  all  possible 
to  have  able  and  representative  men  selected.  Cook 
County  was  especially  fortunate  in  the  character  of  the 
delegates  both  parties  obtained.  The  selection  of  the 
Republican  deputies  was  completed  in  February,  1896. 
They  were  all  able  and  strong  men,  reliably  reflecting 
the  political  opinions  and  wishes  of  their  respective  con- 

210 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  211 

stituencies.  After  they  met  and  organized  for  work  the 
question  came  up  of  aligning  for  the  party  nominee.  An 
exchange  of  views  revealed  that  the  Republicans  of  the 
city,  when  the  delegates  were  selected,  had  had  no  uni- 
fied sentiment  as  to  the  personality  of  the  Presidential 
candidate,  and  had  left  the  choice  open  to  the  judgment 
of  the  delegates.  The  revelation  of  this  fact  brought 
about  discussion  as  to  the  best  policy  to  adopt.  These 
were  strong  men,  and  after  a  long  argument,  they  con- 
cluded to  not  then  commit  the  delegation  to  any  nominee, 
and  in  all  matters  to  act  as  a  unit.  A  ballot  to  that 
effect  pledged  the  members  to  adhere  to  the  unit  rule  in 
casting  the  vote  of  Cook  County. 

Mr.  Madden,  in  the  controversy  preceding  the  adop- 
tion of  the  unit  rule,  proposed  that  the  whole  vote  of  the 
county  be  pledged  to  the  nomination  of  Mr.  McKinley. 
The  delegates,  he  pointed  out,  had  absolute  discretion 
in  the  matter,  and  to  exercise  it  in  the  way  he  proposed 
would  produce  two  results:  first,  it  would  have  a  decisive 
effect  on  the  nomination,  and,  by  giving  the  county  and 
state  the  prestige  of  having  settled  the  question,  would 
assure  both  proper  recognition  in  public  affairs  in  the 
event  of  Mr.  McKinley's  election.  Secondly,  it  would 
help  the  city  and  state  in  popular  esteem,  as,  in  his  opin- 
ion, taking  the  country  as  a  whole,  the  great  majority  of 
Republicans  desired  the  Ohio  man's  nomination.  This 
was  quite  evident  from  all  the  indications  of  the  popular 
desire  freely  manifested  during  the  past  few  months, 
although  it  might  not  appear  in  the  election  of  the  nomi- 
ating  delegates  so  far  chosen. 

Many  constituencies  favoring  Mr.  McKinley's  nomi- 
nation beyond  that  of  any  other  man  so  far  deemed  avail- 


212  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

able,  had  no  doubt  refrained  from  instructing  their  dele- 
gates for  the  reason  that  it  was  better  to  let  them  be  free 
to  take  advantage  of  events  that  might  occur  under  all 
the  conditions  possible  during  the  many  months  before 
the  final  selection.  No  one  who  knew  Chicago  could 
doubt  that  the  Republicans  of  several  *of  the  districts 
were  practically  unanimous  for  McKinley,  although  they 
had  preferred  to  elect  their  delegates  uninstructed. 

It  did  not  seem  to  him  possible  that  any  other  candi- 
date would  appear  in  the  next  five  months  possessing 
McKinley's  availability.  He  had  studied  the  whole  situ- 
ation as  thoroughly  as  he  could,  and  all  things  Republi- 
can had  an  ever-increasing  tendency  towards  the  nomina- 
tion of  the  man  who  in  the  public  mind  most  certainly 
assured  the  restoration  of  Protection.  The  financial 
question  then  agitating  all  the  people  of  the  West  had 
only  an  indifferent  and  academic  interest  in  the  East. 
There  the  tariff  question  was  the  main  topic  of  political 
controversy  among  the  voters,  among  the  people  who 
made  decisions  at  the  polls.  The  great  majority  of  men 
who  earned  their  living  in  the  Eastern  States  did  it  by 
work  connected  in  some  form  with  manufacturing.  They 
were  mostly  idle  or  scantily  employed  and  had  been  so 
for  nearly  four  years.  They  knew  why.  Under  the 
McKinley  Bill  they  had  had  as  much  work  as  they  could 
do  at  the  best  wages  ever  paid.  Their  idleness  and  pov- 
erty had  come  after  the  repeal  of  that  bill,  and,  they 
knew,  came  as  a  result  of  that  repeal.  What  these  men 
and  those  depending  on  them  for  either  support  or 
business  patronage  wanted  was  a  restoration  of  employ- 
ment. They  knew  the  one  way  to  get  this  was  by 
re-establishing  the  protection  of  the  McKinley  Bill.    They 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  2i:i 

all  knew  McKinley  as  the  Legislator  for  Laoor — the 
Protectionist.  They  all  identified  McKinley  with  Pro- 
tection. All  possible  human  effort  could  not  succeed  in 
identifying  any.  other  man  in  the  Republican  party  with 
the  cause  of  Protection  in  the  minds  of  the  working- 
men  as  he  was  identified.  He  alone  could  draw  from 
the  Democratic  party  the  tens, of  thousands  of  voters  who 
were  suffering  from  its  free  trade  and  longing  for  the 
days  of  the  McKinley  Bill.  Without  the  aid  of  these 
Democratic  votes  the  Republican  party  could  not  hope  to 
carry  the  election.  McKinley 's  nomination  would  assure 
success  in  the  East;  no  other  could.  That  being  so,  Cook 
County,  which  could  settle  the  question,  should  not  hesi- 
tate to  make  the  decision.  Such  action  would  start  the 
campaign  immediately  in  the  East  and  have  success  so 
assured  there  by  the  time  the  Convention  met  and  rati- 
fied the  action  of  Chicago,  that  thereafter  effort  could  be 
confined  to  the  West.  There  would  be  an  immense 
advantage  in  that. 

But  the  West  did  not  care  about  the  tariff  question, 
it  was  replied;  it  wanted  the  money  question  settled; 
how  was  McKinley  identified  with  that? 

To  this  Mr.  Madden  responded  that  the  West  was  as 
much  interested  as  the  East  was  in  the  restoration  of 
Protection.  While  this  did  not  appear  to  be  the  case 
just  then,  it  nevertheless  was  the  fact.  The  tariff  ques- 
tion would  grow  in  importance  in  the  West  as  the  cam- 
paign went  on  and  might  before  election  be  the  deter- 
mining issue  even  with  the  farmers.  They  were,  it  was 
true,  just  then  absorbed  in  the  financial  controversy, 
but  they  would  gradually  lose  interest  in  it.  They  could 
be  convinced  that  their  best  customers  were  the  workers 


214  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

of  the  East,  and  that  the  best  way  to  restore  prosperity 
to  the  farms  was  to  restore  employment  to  their  penniless 
customers,  through  the  tariff.  The  farmers  would  real- 
ize long  before  election  that  the  money  question  had  had 
nothing  to  do  in  causing  the  hard  times,  while  the 
change  in  the  tariff  law  had  had  everything  to  do  in 
bringing  them  on ;  that  the  money  of  the  country  was 
precisely  the  same  as  it  had  always  been;  there  had  been 
no  change  at  all  in  that,  but  there  had  been  a  disastrous 
change  in  the  tariff.  McKinley  was  as  good  a  friend  of 
silver  as  any  public  man  was,  and  it  could  be  made  plain 
that  the  Republican  party  would  do  whatever  could  be 
done  for  silver,  if  there  was  any  help  for  it  at  all,  and 
that  the  Populists  could  not  be  trusted,  either  at  home 
or  abroad,  to  help  any  cause  they  advocated.  The  main 
thing  was  that  McKinley  was  the  most  desired,  the  most 
available  and  the  most  attractive  candidate  in  the 
Republican  party,  the  one  possessing  the  most  enduring 
qualities  for  a  nominee.  With  Cook  County's  delegates 
pledged  to  him,  his  nomination  would  be  assured.  He 
would  get  the  nomination  anyhow,  in  all  probability,  as 
the  people  were  for  him;  but  Cook  County  had  it  in  its 
power  to  assure  it  to  him  then,  and  there  was  so  much 
advantage,  general  and  local,  to  be  gained  by  doing  it 
that  wisdom  urged  the  doing  of  it. 

This  reasoning  was  done  some  time  before  the  Ohio 
movement  for  McKinley  had  established  official  head- 
quarters in  Chicago.  All  the  Cook  County  men  were 
McKinley  men.  History  shows  this  to  be  a  fact,  not- 
withstanding all  opinion  to  the  contrary.  The  misun- 
derstanding was  caused  by  the  very  loyalty  of  the  men 
to  one  another  and   the  sincerity  of  their  efforts  on  the 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  215 

party's  behalf.  They  had  agreed  to  act  as  a  unit.  There 
was  not  a  man  among  them  dishonorable  enough  to  vio- 
late that  compact,  or  even  to  try  to.  As  time  went  on  it 
became  more  and  more  evident  that  Illinois  would  decide 
the  nomination.  It  likewise  became  manifest  that  the 
overwhelming  sentiment  of  the  party  in  the  state  was 
for  McKinley. 

The  Cook  County  men  understood  popular  feeling  as 
well  as  any  politicians  in  the  state;  they  were  all  experts 
at  the  work  of  reading  public  sentiment.  But  these  men 
knew,  what  many  novices  did  not,  that  Illinois  had  more 
than  once  been  betrayed  in  National  Conventions;  had 
several  times  delivered  the  deciding  votes,  the  votes  that 
either  alone  made  the  result  or  that,  pledged,  induced 
enough  additions  to  make  it,  and  had  subsequently  not 
received  even  the  smallest  reward  of  virtue — recogni- 
tion. The  Chicago  men  had  been  made  wary  by  their 
experience  of  Eastern  party  managers.  They  had 
become  conservative.  They  saw  no  reason  why  if  the 
party  in  Illinois  had  the  power  of  nominating  or  defeat- 
ing the  nomination  of  a  Presidential  candidate,  it  should 
not  before  delivering  the  votes  obtain  absolute  assurance 
that  in  the  successful  candidate's  administration  it  would 
have  the  representation  due  it,  and  not  have  its  service 
credited  to  outsiders.  Hence,  it  appeared  better  to  have 
it  known  that  the  Illinois  Republican  delegates  would  at 
St.  Louis  be  for  McKinley  without  doubt,  but  would  not 
deliver  the  party's  vote  in  advance  by  a  pledge  that 
would  shear  the  state's  representation  of  power  in  the 
Convention.  It  would  be  better  to  deliver  at  St.  Louis 
than  at  Springfield.  At  St.  Louis  the  delivery  could  be 
made  to  the  Republican  party  of  the  United  States;  at 


216  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

Springfield  it  could  not.  At  the  latter  place  there  might 
be  some  question  of  who  delivered ;  at  St.  Louis  there 
could  not  be. 

This  was  the  position  taken  by  the  Cook  County  men. 
Many  of  them  did  not  favor  taking  it,  for  fear  it  would 
be  misunderstood  and  do  the  party  harm.  These  pointed 
out  that  demagogues  might  inflame  the  people  with  sug- 
gestions that  it  was  an  attempt  to  deliver  for  a  vulgar 
consideration.  The  fact  that  a  man  like  Madden  was  in 
this  delegation  would  be  enough  to  overthrow  any  suspi- 
cion regarding  the  absolute  integrity  of  the  body's  action 
under  any  ordinary  circumstances;  but  circumstances 
were  not  ordinary,  and  the  Republicans  of  the  state  were 
beginning  to  get  excited.  Mr.  Madden  did  all  in  his 
power  to  induce  the  delegation  to  refrain  from  taking 
this  attitude  and  to  come  out  flat-footed  for  McKinley, 
but  in  vain.  The  majority  were  against  him.  As  the 
delegates  were  not  instructed  and  were  free,  they  had  a 
perfect  right  to  do  as  they  did.  The  whole  question  was 
purely  a  political  one  of  expediency.  The  majority  voted 
against  pledging  for  any  but  a  state  candidate  and  the 
unit  rule  bound  all  the  members  of  the  delegation  to 
abide  by  the  decision  of  the  majority. 

Some  time  after  the  delegation  had  decided  its  atti- 
tude, the  Eastern  managers  of  Mr.  McKinley's  campaign 
invited  Mr.  Madden  to  a  conference.  He  attended. 
They  requested  a  comprehensive  opinion  of  the  party 
sentiment  in  Illinois.  He  told  them  it  was  practically 
unanimous  for  their  candidate,  but  not  organized.  They 
asked  him  to  undertake  the  work  of  organization.  He 
told  them  he  could  not  do  so  because  of  his  obligation  to 
his  fellow  members  of  the   Cook  County  delegation  and 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  217 

then  explained  the  situation  in  Chicago,  with  which  the 
managers  had  been  unacquainted.  A  long  talk  ensued. 
The  Alderman  made  it  plain  that  the  Republicans  of 
Illinois  were  for  McKinley,  that  he  would  get  the  vote  of 
its  delegation  at  St.  Louis,  but  that  the  Cook  County 
members  were  united  against  pledging  and  under  the 
unit  rule  agreed  to  he  was  bound  to  act  with  them  and 
would  do  so.  He  saw  clearly  what  he  was  offered  and 
what  he  was  refusing,  but  declined  to  act  except  with  his 
delegation  so  long  as  it  held  to  the  unit  rule,  to  which  he 
had  agreed.  When  asked  if  the  decision  of  the  Chicago 
men  might  not  be  changed — the  managers  wanted  a  cer- 
tainty before  reaching  St.  Louis — Mr.  Madden  frankly 
replied  that  he  hoped  so,  and  would  do  all  in  his  power 
to  have  it  altered,  as  he  had  all  along  done ;  but  that 
until  it  was  he  would  not  be  free  to  undertake  the  task 
of  securing  pledged  delegates  from  the  state  for  Mr. 
McKinley  and  would  Work  in  perfect  accord  with  his 
delegation. 

No  one  acquainted  with  him  would  have  for  a  moment 
thought  that  Mr.  Madden  would  do  anything  else  than 
he  here  did.  His  position  was  clearly  defined  and  there 
was  left  no  doubt  about  it.  However,  it  alarmed  the 
McKinley  managers  with  dread  that  their  candidate's 
prospects  in  Illinois  were  unsafe.  A  campaign  was  at 
once  set  on  foot  to  arouse  the  country  districts  to  over- 
whelm the  Chicago  delegates  with  public  sentiment.  A 
furor  resulted  which  produced  the  intensest  struggle  for 
instructions  that  ever  stirred  the  Republicans  of  the 
state.  It  immensely  increased  the  McKinley  sentiment, 
but  did  not  break  the  solidity  of  the  Cook  phalanx — it 
rather  compacted  that.      The  more  it  became  manifest 


218  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

that  the  country  was  a  unit  for  McKinley's  nomination, 
the  more  certain  the  majority  of  the  Chicagoans  grew 
that  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  throw  the  party  advantage 
away  by  pledging  the  vote  ahead  of  delivery  time. 
When  the  Springfield  Convention  met  to  decide  on  action 
at  St.  Louis  the  country  delegates  were  in  a  fever  of 
excitement  lest  the  failure  to  pledge  might  endanger 
McKinley's  chances  at  St.  Louis  by  making  it  appear  the 
party  in  the  state  of  Illinois  was  not  for  him.  They  did 
not  seem  to  know  how  solidly  it  was.  Their  uncertainty 
prevented  them  from  organizing  and  as  a  mass  unhesi- 
tatingly using  the  power  they  really  had — it  was  suffi- 
cient to  brush  everything  out  of  their  way. '  The  men 
from  Chicago  knew  exactly  how  every  delegate  in  the 
Convention  would  finally  vote  and  were  aware  the  other 
side  had  not  sure  knowledge  on  this  point  and  x:ould  not, 
therefore,  act  with  decision.  They  were  solid  themselves 
and  sure  of  the  state.  So  they  threw  themselves  alto- 
gether and  at  once  into  the  work  of  controlling  the  pro- 
ceedings, and,  amidst  the  greatest  excitement,  to  which 
they  were  used,  kept  the  meeting  busy  with  unessential 
actions,  winning  on  every  vote  until  they  had  almost 
convinced  the  majority  that  it  was  the  minority  in  that 
assemblage;  and  were  actually  on  the  point  of  complete 
victory  when  a  tactical  error  disclosed  their  strength. 
Then  in  a  single  clash  they  went  down  and  pledging 
triumphed. 

In  a  flash,  however,  it  was  seen  that  all  were  equally 
good  McKinley  men,  differing  only  on  the  one  point  of 
how  best  to  place  the  party  where  it  rightly  belonged  in 
national  affairs. 

The  greatest  individual   victory  obtained  was  on  the 


PUBLIC    SERVANT  £19 

motion  made  by  Mr.  Madden  to  place  the  name  of 
William  Penn  Nixon,  editor  of  the  Chicago  Inter-Ocean, 
on  the  list  of  delegates-at-large  in  the  place  of  the 
majority's  candidate,  who  was  an  undoubted  Gold  man. 
The  majority  of  the  delegates  were  Gold  men,  and 
Mr.  Nixon  was  known  to  be  a  Silver  Republican. 
Mr.  Madden  was  the  very  champion  of  Gold.  But 
he  had  gone  down  with  the  minority,  and  when 
he  stood  up  to  make  his  argument  he  had  to 
face  fearful  odds — the  apparent  desire  of  a  triumphant 
majority  to  punish  him  for  compelling  it  to  fight  for 
its  life  and  the  apparent  inconsistency  of  the  attitude 
he  was  taking.  He  had  uttered  but  a  sentence  when 
every  one  present  desired  to  hear  all  he  wished  to 
say.  Without  the  waste  of  a  word,  going  at  once  to  the 
marrow,  he  uttered  such  a  speech  as  none  but  those- there 
that  day  ever  heard  in  a  State  Convention.  Its  steady  fire 
burned  ugly  opposition  away;  its  manly  breadth  capti- 
vated the  house;  the  clearness  of  the  argument  and  the 
eloquence  of  the  plea  aroused  such  feelings  of  justice 
that  the  audience  turned  clear  about  and  gave  the  orator, 
whom  when  he  rose  it  threatened  to  crush,  when  he  sat 
down  a  larger  majority  than  it  had  cast  for  instructions. 
For  the  latter  the  Convention  had  cast  755  votes,  a  major- 
ity of  175  ;  for  the  orator's  motion  the  house  gave  840  styes. 
When  the  life  of  this  delegate  is  written  the  speech  he 
delivered  on  that  day  will  be  read  and  placed  alongside 
one  delivered  on  a  greater  occasion  by  a  Virginian 
named  Patrick  Henry. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

USES   BLAINE'S   RECIPROCITY  ARGUMENT-— MAKES   NOVEL   APPLICA- 
TION—EFFECT  ON    SILVER    MEN. 


11  ANY  of  the  arguments  used  by  the  Illinois  delegates 
/  T I  upon  those  from  other  states  were  singularly  Clevel- 
and statesmanlike.  Some  of  them  have  never  been  sur- 
passed for  real  excellence.  A  number  of  the  best  have 
never  been  equaled  in  financial  discussions. 

How  wise  was  the  platform  declaration  that  the  party 
would  do  all  in  its  power  to  yet  bring  about  an  inter- 
national agreement  in  favor  of  the  rehabilitation  of 
Silver  and  its  free  and  unlimited  coinage  at  some  fair 
ratio  to  be  agreed  upon,  coupled  with  that  other  pro- 
nouncement in  favor  of  a  restoration  of  Protection  and 
Blaine's  Reciprocity  Pol  icy, is  now  plain  to  every  observer. 
.  The  wisdom  of  taking  such  action  was  equally  well  seen 
then  by  the  moving  spirits  in  the  Illinois  delegation. 
Mr.  Madden  all  along  urged  that  although  the  Gold  men 
had  no  faith  at  all  that  the  nations  would  agree  to  again 
make  silver  standard  money,  still  it  was  the  duty  of  this 
Government  to  use  every  effort  it  could  honorably  make 
toward  inducing  them  to  do  so  while  there  was  a  possi- 
bility of  obtaining  their  consent.  He  himself  did  not 
believe  that  this  country  alone  could  by  any  means  in  its 
power  maintain  the  double  standard,  nor  did  he  think  it 
could  be  supported  by  the  combined  action  of  all  the 
nations.     Still,  there  was  a  large  number  of  Americans 

220 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  221 

who  thought  otherwise,  and  they  were  entitled  to  just  as 
much  consideration  as  the  citizens  who  agreed  with  him, 
so  long  as  the  opinion  the  latter  held  was  not  com- 
pletely demonstrated  to  be  correct.  While,  therefore, 
any  honest  attempt  to  bring  about  the  desired  interna- 
tional agreement  remained  untried,  the  Government,  he 
thought,  was  in  duty  bound  to  make  it.  The  weapon  of 
Reciprocity,  he  pointed  out,  had  not  yet  been  used.  The 
friends  of  Silver  were  entitled  to  have  it  tried  in  their 
interest.  If  the  Republicans  won  the  election  the  old 
McKinley  Law  would  be  re-enacted,  with  such  modifica- 
tions as  the  changed  conditions  called  for,  and  it  would 
contain  the  Blaine  proposals.  These  were  based  on  the 
sound  principle  that  in  business  matters  neither  men  nor 
nations  will  in  all  cases  be  fair  toward  one  another  vol- 
untarily, or  unless  induced  or  compelled  to  be.  Mr. 
Blaine  had  seen,  while  acting  as  Secretary  of  State,  that 
many  American  products  were  unfairly  barred  out  of  the 
markets  of  foreign  nations  whose  people  desired  the 
goods.  As  a  remedy,  he  conceived  the  law  that  empow- 
ered the  President,  by  the  quick  and  simple  process  of 
issuing  a  personal  proclamation,  to  stop  the  sale  in  the 
United  States  of  any  product  offered  here  from  a  country 
which  unreasonably  closed  its  doors  to  any  branch  of 
American  trade.  With  this  law  in  his  hands  it  did  not 
take  Mr.  Blaine  very  long  to  convince  Germany  that 
trichinae  in  American  pork,  and  France  that  tuberculosis 
in  American  beef,  were  political  diseases  only,  and 
unworthy  of  notice  so  long  as  these  nations  desired  to 
sell  sour  wine  and  red  water  in  the  United  States.  The 
Reciprocity  Law  gave  the  American  hog  a  ticket  of  gen- 
eral admission  to  Germany,  and  the  American  cow  the 


222  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

right  of  excursion  to  France.  Now,  silver  was  an 
American  product,  and  the  same  Blaine  process  might 
similarly  help  it.  The  friends  of  the  metal  were  entitled 
to  at  least  an  experiment. 

When  Silver  Republicans  read  the  declaration  they 
generally  stayed  where  they  were,  feeling  that,  after  all, 
if  there  was  any  hope  for  their  metal  it  lay  in  Protection 
and  remembering  that  the  Free  Trade  of  the  other  party 
had  deprived  Uncle  Sam  of  the  only  weapon  he  had  had 
with  which  he  could  in  any  wise  help  silver.  The 
Democrats,  who  had  taken  away  this  instrument,  would 
not  restore  it,  but  the  Republicans  would.  When  Mr. 
Bryan  was  nominated  this  feeling  was  intensified  by  the 
fact  that  he  was  an  out-and-out  Free  Trader  and  the  recol- 
lection that  as  a  member  of  the  Congressional  Ways  and 
Means  Committee  he  had  been  prominently  instrumental 
in  the  work  of  repealing  the  McKinley  Law. 

The  wide  influence  of  the  Illinois  argument  which 
procured  in  the  St.  Louis  platform  the  promise  respect- 
ing silver,  may  be  appreciated  by  a  consideration  of 
some  of  its  immediate  effects.  Senator  E.  O.  Wolcott, 
of  Colorado,  the  strongest  prominent  Silver  man  in  the 
Republican  party,  at  once  decided  to  remain  in  the 
ranks.  He  represented  in  the  Senate  the  principal  soft 
money  state.  All  his  investments  were  in  silver  proper- 
ties and  all  his  constituents  were  for  the  white  metal. 
He  took  the  ground  that  the  success  of  Democracy,  with 
Free  Trade,  would  destroy  the  last  hope  of  the  Silver 
movement,  while  the  election  of  the  Republican  ticket 
and  the  consequent  restoration  of  Protection,  would 
assure  the  cause  the  full  operation  of  the  only  chance  it 
had  left. 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  223 

When  Wolcott  refused  to  bolt  the  action  of  the  Con* 
vention  and  proclaimed  adherence  to  the  party  on  the 
platform  adopted,  "There,"  said  Madden  to  his  col- 
leagues, i4is  a  splendid  justification  of  Mr.  McKinley's 
silence  on  the  financial  question  while  he  was  a  candi- 
date for  the  nomination.  His  refusal  to  officially  attempt 
to  influence  the  proceedings  here  has  increased  the 
party's  confidence  that  he  will,  irrespective  of  his  per- 
sonal views,  honestly  endeavor  to  carry  out  its  expressed 
wishes.  He  will  uphold  the  Gold  standard  adopted  and 
he  will  do  all  that  yet  remains  to  be  done  for  Silver.  Wol- 
cott knows  this  and  his  action  foretells  what  the  majority 
of  the  Silver  Republicans  will  do.  They  will  remain  in 
the  party  with  the  Colorado  senator. ' ' 

McKinley's  subsequent  action  in  appointing  a  com- 
mission to  sound  the  European  governments  on  the  ques- 
tion of  restoring  silver  to  standard  coinage,  and  Wol- 
cott's  appointment  and  service  as  a  member  of  that  body, 
were  demonstrations  complete  not  only  of  the  party's 
sincerity,  but  of  the  President's  loyalty  to  its  instruc- 
tions. 

At  a  critical  juncture  in  the  campaign,  Mr.  Hanna 
selected  two  especially  qualified  men  to  place  the  Chi- 
cago argument  before  the  people  of  California,  where  the 
Bryanese  propaganda  were  sweeping  everything  away 
from  Republicanism.  These  gentlemen  attended  to 
their  business,  and  toward  the  end  of  October  a  halt 
came  in  the  Golden  State.  The  people  saw  that  with 
Bryan  President  and  Free  Trade  continued  and  increased 
there  was  not  as  much  likelihood  for  international  action 
favorable  to  Silver  as  there  would  be  with  McKinley  and 
Protection.      The  Californians  wanted  both   Silver  and 


224  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

Protection,  but  Protection  more  than  Silver.  With 
Bryan  they  might  get  Silver,  but  not  Protection;  with 
McKinley  they  were  as  likely  to  get  Silver,  but,  as  they 
said,  "dead  sure  to  get  Protection."  So  they  "played 
for  the  double"  and  the  state  went  Republican  by  about 
2,700  majority.  At  one  of  the  meetings  in  that  state, 
when  the  Republican  argument,  then  first  put  forth  in 
that  part  of  the  country,  was  finished,  180  of  the  auditors 
went  forward,  pulled  the  Silver  buttons  from  their  lapels 
and  threw  them  upon  the  stage. 

All  along,  while  engaged  in  the  wofk  of  creating 
opinion  among  the  delegates,  Mr.  Madden  had  urged  the 
dissemination  of  this  argument  as  the  one  that  would  not 
only  hold  the  Silver  Republicans,  but  eventually  make  of 
them,  as  the  campaign  progressed,  the  most  effective 
orators  against  the  straight-out  Silver  movement.  Time, 
that  reveals  everything  in  its  own  season,  has  shown  that 
he  was  right  and  that  for  the  country  it  was  fortunate  he 
and  men  like  him  were  right  so  early. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


BRYAN  S  NOMINATION  A  SURPRISE— FORCES  CHANGE  IN  REPUBLI- 
CAN PLAN — THE  EFFECT. 


WHEN  the  St.  Louis  Convention  adjourned  and  the 
general  exchange  of  views  on  the  work  done, 
which  follows  after  such  an  assemblage,  had  taken 
place,  two  prevailing  opinions  were  found  to  exist.  One 
was  that  the  platform  afforded  sufficient  ground  for  the 
Gold  Democrats  to  stand  upon  and  that  they  might  be 
expected  to  occupy  it  if  their  party  fell  under  the  control 
of  the  Populists  at  Chicago.  The  other  was  that  the 
declaration  of  principles  was  unqualifiedly  for  Gold  and 
tentatively  only  for  Silver.  *  This  left  the  Silver  men  as 
a  body  out  of  consideration,  at  least  until  it  could  be  seen 
what  the  Democratic  Convention  at  Chicago  would  do. 

The  result  was  the  most  bitter  struggle  ever  witnessed 
in  American  political  affairs  for  control  of  a  nominating 
Convention.  The  old  liners  from  the  East  attended  in 
their  fullest  strength.  The  Populists  came  like  an  ava- 
lanche from  the  Far  and  Middle  West.  The  struggle  in 
the  hotels,  streets  and  Coliseum  lobbies  was  unprece- 
dented, and  when  finally  transferred  concrete  to  the 
Auditorium  was  Babel  megaphoned.  The  East,  with  its 
trained  Convention  leaders,  its  speakers  of  well-earned 
world-wide  repute,  and  its  master-hands  at  effective  floor 
management,  for  a  long  time  held  the  struggle  well  in 
their  grasp.    But  when  Bryan  at  last  arose  and  in  sublime 

16  225 


226  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

elocution  phrased  the  popular  suffering,  discontent  and 
despair;  in  language  that  inflamed  put  the  blame  for  it 
all  upon  Eastern  management  of  public  affairs,  and 
then,  with  the  diction  of  a  crusader  and  the  passion  of 
justice  aroused,  lifted  clearly  into  view  the  country's  one 
sole  hope — Western  party  dominance — the  bursting  flood 
of  Populism  forced  the  gates  and  the  deluge  came. 
When  it  had  spent  its  passion  there  was  left  visible 
hardly  a  fragment  of  the  wreck  of  the  old  Democratic 
party,  and  a  Populist  orator  was  in  its  name  nominated 
for  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States. 

"That  nomination, "  exclaimed  Madden,  who  was 
present  when  it  was  made,  "is  proof  that  the  days  of 
oratory  are  not  passed,  and  that  the  printed  word  is  not 
yet  so  effective  as  the  spoken.  Mr.  Bryan  came  to  the 
Convention  on  a  newspaper  correspondent's  pass,  and 
entered  this  hall  as  a  contesting  delegate,  fighting  for  a 
seat.  He  leaves  the  Convention  the  Presidential  nominee 
of  the  Democratic  party.  A  single  oration  did  it  all. 
His  address  in  type  would  hardly  have  won  him  a  dele- 
gate: from  his  tongue  it  captured  the  Convention  and 
brought  him  the  Presidential  nomination.  Never  before 
did  oratory  by  a  single  effort  accomplish  anything  com- 
parable to  this  achievement.  It  was  done,  too,  in  the 
most  enlightened  nation  the  world  has  yet  had  and 
among  a  people  who  are  the  greatest  readers  that  have 
ever  lived.  The  whole  force  of  the  Republican  party, 
and  the  entire  energy  of  the  business,  labor  and  property 
interests  of  the  United  States,  will  now  have  to  be 
exerted  to  the  fullest  degree  to  overcome  the  effect  of 
the  oratory  of  one  man.     Contrast  that  use  of. the  tongue 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  227 

with  any  conceivable  use  of  the  pen.  It  will  be  a  cam- 
paign of  oratory." 

It  was.  The  Republican  party  at  one  time  during  it, 
had  more  than  6,000  public  speakers  at  work  on  the  stump. 

After  that  the  issue  was  quickly  joined  between  Pop- 
ulism and  Order,  repudiation  and  wreckage  and  honor 
and  patriotism.  The  Chicago  Republicans  made  a  canvass 
and  found  that  hundreds  of  Democrats  among  the  citi- 
zens and  scores  of  the  Convention  attendants  had 
renounced  their  party  immediately  after  the  platform  was 
adopted.  Their  renunciation  was  open  and  irrevocable. 
Many  of  them  unhesitatingly  proclaimed  their  intention 
of  supporting  the  Republican  ticket.  It  was  ascertained 
on  closer  inquiry  that  these,  while  naming  Gold  as  the 
magnet,  admitted  that  Protection  was  equally  attractive, 
and,  in  many  cases,  more.  The  Cleveland  management 
had  opened  their  eyes  to  the  viciousness  of  Free  Trade. 
The  press  of  the  whole  country  reflected  the  general  situ- 
ation the  same  as  it  appeared  in  Chicago.  Great  news- 
papers like  the  New  York  Sun,  which  took  the  lead, 
openly  abandoned  the  Democratic  party  and  -advised 
their  readers  to  support  McKinley. 

It  did  not  take  the  Chicago  Republican  leaders  long 
to  decide  upon  a  course.  The  main  issue  was  to  be  the 
money  question  with  Protection  its  running  mate.  Men 
like  Madden  saw  that  up  to  that  time  their  calculations 
had  proven  correct — the  St.  Louis  platform  had  divided 
the  Democratic  party  and  would  attract  the  Gold  wing. 
But  the  Democratic  movement  towards  Republicanism 
was  so  manifestly  an  Eastern  movement,  so  palpably 
what  Bryan  would  point  to  as  a  "Wall  Street  Octopus" 
combination,  that  it  endangered  the  chances  of  maintain- 


228  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

ing,  let  alone  increasing,  the  cordial  relations  between 
the  real  Silver  Republicans  and  the  McKinley  party  in 
the  West.  In  fact,  for  a  while  the  open  attitude  of  the 
great  money  interests  threatened  to  alienate  these  men 
and  more  than  offset  the  hard  money  gain. 

In  addition  to  this  difficulty,  it  was  found  practically 
impossible  to  poll  the  Gold  Democrats.  Politically,  the 
Republican  workers  had  no  acquaintance  with  them  like 
that  with  members  of  their  own  creed.  The  Gold  Dem- 
ocrats did  not  attend  Republican  meetings,  join  proces- 
sions, or  place  themselves  where  they  could  be  counted. 
They  succeeded  through  the  press  in  spreading  the  con- 
viction that  about. all  of  them  would  support  the  Repub- 
lican candidate,  but  so  long  as  they  would  not  be 
counted,  the  McKinley  workers  felt  as  if  the  gain  was 
all  on  paper.  On  the  other  hand,  these  managers  per- 
sonally knew  the  Silver  Republicans  and  could  count 
them  when  absentees,  either  as  deserters  or  on  the  fence. 
The  situation  was  one  in  which  the  gain  seemed  conjec- 
tural, while  the  loss  was  accurately  figurable.  It  was  not 
encouraging,  and  it  remained  so  for  a  long  time.  For 
weeks  it  looked  as  if  every  farmer  in  the  Middle  West 
was  for  Silver  and  Bryan. 

What  made  the  situation  more  perplexing  was  the 
condition  of  the  campaign  literature.  Mr.  Madden  had 
been  for  six  years  Chairman  of  the  City  Central  Repub- 
lican Committee.  In  that  capacity,  with  his  accustomed 
energy,  he  had  traversed  every  district  in  the  county  and 
most  of  those  in  the  state.  He  knew  the  situation  thor- 
oughly, as  well  as  the  people  of  the  commonwealth,  and 
realized  completely  the  nature  of  what  was  to  be  done. 
The    Republican    party's   state  headquarters  had  been 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  229 

kept  open  in  Chicago  for  twelve  months.  In  this  time 
thousands  of  visitors  from  all  parts  of  the  West  had 
called  and  thousands  of  letters  arrived,  all  making 
enquiries  on  the  money  question.  Such  of  these  as 
were  worthy  of  answer  or  capable  of  affording  a  sugges- 
tion had  been  preserved  and  annotated.  Early  in  the 
spring  political  economists  had  been  engaged  to  inspect 
this  mass  of  interrogatories  and  prepare  replies  or 
answers.  It  was  Mr.  Madden's  view  that  in  this  way 
campaign  literature  might  be  produced  in  the  most 
effective  way,  as  it  would  meet  the  actual  conditions 
which  the  enquiries  disclosed.  A  great  deal  of  sound 
and  valuable  campaign  literature  was  the  result.  There 
had  been  no  expectation  that  such  a  man  as  Mr.  Bryan 
would  be  the  Democratic  nominee,  and  nothing  had  been 
prepared  that  fully  met  {he  condition  his  leadership  pre- 
cipitated. Much  of  the  literature  had  to  be  destroyed 
or  left  unused,  and  most  of  that  used  had  to  be  revised. 
The  work  was  rushed  and  the  Illinois  Committee  was 
enabled  to  cover  the  whole  ground  with  its  own  argu- 
ments, devised  to  exactly  meet  requirements,  weeks 
before  the  National  Committee  opened  its  doors  for  work. 
The  condition  in  the  state  was  so  similar  to  that  in  the 
whole  surrounding  country  that  after  the  National  Com- 
mittee began  the  task  of  issuing  free  books,  pamphlets 
and  leaflets,  the  Campaign  Committees  of  seventeen  states 
continued  to  get  their  supply  from  Illinois  and  to  pay  for 
it,  all  pooling  the  expense,  because  most  of  the  National 
body's  productions  had  been  prepared  in  the  East,  and 
did  not  at  all  supply  what  was  needed  in  the  West,  while 
those  furnished  by  the  Illinois  Committee  did  so  com- 
pletely.    The  Chairman  of  the  Illinois  State  Republican 


230  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

Committee,  Mr.  Hitch,  in  a  letter  to  the  Republicans  in 
New  Jersey,  and  the  Hon.  John  R.  Tanner,  the  Repub- 
lican candidate  for  Governor  of  Illinois,  in  a  communica- 
tion to  the  Chairman  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Republi- 
can Committee,  both  affirmed  that  the  arguments  framed 
and  used  by  the  Illinois  managers  had  been  so  well 
adjusted  to  actual  conditions  that  they  had  arrested  the 
Free  Silver  tidal  wave,  turned  it  back,  and  secured  the 
state,  and  most  of  its  neighbors,  in  safety.  Both  letters 
were  written  early  in  August  and  both  claimed  that  at 
that  time  Illinois  would  give  at  least  150,000  Republican 
majority.  Mr.  Hitch  thought  the  figure  might  go  much 
higher. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


ON  THE   STUMP — MANY   NEW  ARGUMENTS — THEIR   HISTORICAL 
VALUE. 


BESIDES  all  his  other  work,  Mr.  Madden  stumped  the 
state,  making  sixty  set  speeches  and  innumerable 
private  and  small  talks.  His  great  invention  in  argument, 
clearness  in  statement,  and  moral  power  in  convincing 
and  persuading  changed  votes  wherever  he  spoke. 
The  editors  of  the  Republican  literature,  the  members 
of  the  State  Committee,  the  Chairmen  of  the  local  party 
organizations  and  electors  everywhere  throughout  the 
state  all  testified  that  he  furnished  brains,  arguments, 
motives,  in  every  effort  he  made  that  year  for  the 
Republican  cause.  His  premeditated  statements  were 
always  new  and  vote-making.  His  rejoinders  to  inter- 
rogatories, his  personal  colloquys  with  friends  or  strang- 
ers, on  trains,  in  hotels,  everywhere  he  went,  were 
replete  with  original  information  and  logic.  They  con- 
vinced, were  remembered,  gave  auditors  pleasure  in 
repetition,  and  became  current.  It  is  doubtful  if  any 
one  man  ever  added  so  much  stock  to  good  argument  in 
any  political  campaign  in  this  country. 

It  seems  almost  preposterous  to  claim  that  anyone 
could  add  a  thing  new  to  the  arguments  for  Protection,  a 
subject  discussed  by  Hamilton,  Greeley  and  Blaine.  Yet 
Mr.  Madden  has  said  many  effective  things  on  the  tariff 
never  uttered  or  hinted  at  by  either  Blaine,  Greeley  or 

231 


232  MARTIN   B.    MADDEN 

Hamilton,  and  some  of  them  are  more  original  and  con- 
vincing than  anything  either  of  the  three  ever  said  or 
wrote  on  the  subject.  After  Sherman,  McCleary,  and 
other  authorities,  had  apparently  exhausted  all  the  good 
arguments  in  favor  of  the  Gold  standard,  and  left  to 
others  the  mere  task  of  repetition,  Mr.  Madden  entered 
the  discussion  and  put  into  it  keener  ideas,  better  illus- 
trations, more  lucid  explanations  and  clearer  history  than 
had  ever  been  used  before,  besides  many  entirely  new 
arguments. 

His  mental  make-up,  and  the  method  he  had  used  in 
educating  himself,  enabled  him  to  easily  and  naturally 
lead  in  the  work  of  that  campaign  scores  of  men  who 
were  decidedly  his  inferiors  in  everything  but  national 
reputations  based  on  a  mere  fraction  of  his  merit.  Earn- 
ing his  own  living  by  day  work  at  ten  years  of  age  and 
attending  night  school;  laboring  with  his  hands  in  youth 
and  studying  at  evening  colleges;  graduating  as  the 
best  engineer  of  his  age  in  the  city,  and  completing  the 
study  of  law,  while  running  a  stone  quarry  employing 
scores  of  men;  receiving  private  instruction  from  expert 
tutors  for  years  while  managing  great  business  enter- 
prises; surrounding  himself  by  careful  readers  of  stand- 
ard literature  and  current  publications  during  the  time 
he  was  building  up  the  vast  business  of  the  Western  Stone 
Company;  all  his  life  attractive  to  educated  and  scholarly 
men  because  of  his  skillful  queries  and  correct  comment; 
business  manager  for  great  capital;  Chairman  of  many 
Boards  of  Directors  in  the  most  rapidly  growing  com- 
mercial city  in  the  world;  bank  director;  trustee  of 
estates;  representative  of  trade  organizations  in  National 
conclaves;  special  deputy  to  Congress  on  Federal  ques- 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  233 

tions  affecting  the  transportation  interests  of  Chicago ; 
municipal  correspondent  of  the  corporation  with  the 
thousands  of  mayors  in  the  United  States  to  induce 
them  to  make  a  Mayors'  Day  at  the  Columbian  Exposi- 
tion; Chairman  of  the  Committee  to  entertain  distin- 
guished foreigners  attending  the  Fair;  employer  of  2,000 
men;  arbiter  of  labor  disputes  in  the  City  of  vStrikes; 
Finance  Minister  of  Chicago  during  the  five  years  of 
colossal  annexation  and  assimilation,  each  year  finding 
ways  and  means  to  raise  upwards  of  $20,000,000,  and 
then  seeing  that  that  vast  amount  was  correctly  spent: — 
how  many  statesmen  has  the  country  ever  had  who  pos- 
sessed at  forty- one  years  of  age  so  valuable  an  education 
for  public  life  as  Martin  B.  Madden  possessed  during  the 
campaign  of  1896?  With  a  voice  so  pleasing  that  men 
would  stop  to  listen  to  it  for  its  sound  alone,  a  figure  like 
that  of  a  Greek  athlete,  a  head  splendidly  set,  carrying 
a  clean  white  face  with  nearly  perfect  features,  and  a 
covering  like  a  first  frost;  with  an  established  reputation 
for  unassailable  morality,  absolute  truthfulness,  unques- 
tionable accuracy  of  statement;  and  known  to  be  beyond 
most  men  in  perception,  wit,  faculty  of  expression, 
abundance  of  exact  knowledge,  humanity,  and  affection 
for  the  public  welfare: — it  is  not  wonderful  that  large 
audiences  assembled  to  listen  to  him,  newspapers  sought 
and  published  his  views  as  campaign  documents,  party 
managers  accepted  his  solutions  of  difficulties,  friends 
took  his  guidance,  acquaintances  spread  his  opinions 
and  electors  asked  him  how  to  vote. 

Madden's  speech  is  better  and  "quicker"  than  John- 
son's was,  and  if  he  had  a  Boswell  posterity  would  pos- 
sess a  better  mine  of  mental  nuggets.     His  brain  seems 


234  MARTIN   B.   MADDEN 

an  expression  jewel  factory.  The  gems  come  out  com- 
pletely reduced  and  finished.  He  has  put  into  circulation 
statements  of  public  affairs  that  will  live  because  of 
their  unsurpassable  compactness  and  completeness.  His 
mental  store  is  so  inexhaustible  that  he  doesn't  tag  its 
output,  and  it  becomes  common  property. 

When  asked  what  a  Protective  tariff  was,  he  said  it 
was  the  peddler's  license  collected  at  the  Custom  House. 
What  a  convincing  argument  there  was  in  that.  The 
peddler  is  not  allowed  to  vend  his  wares  in  competition 
with  the  merchants  of  the  town,  who  have  similar  things 
to  sell  and  who  by  taxation  maintain  the  walks,  streets, 
lights,  police,  schools  and  courts  of  the  place,  unless  he 
also  pays  taxes  into  the  corporation's  treasury.  The 
sum  he  pays  he  does  not  add  to  the  price  of  his  wares. 
To  sell  them  he  must  take  the  market  price  prevailing 
among  the  merchants  against  whom  he  is  going  to  com- 
pete. He  must  sacrifice  the  sum  of  his  license  from  the 
profits  of  his  sales  in  that  town  and  sell  at  a  profit  dimin- 
ished by  that  amount.  The  money  he  pays  goes  into 
the  town  treasury  and  diminishes  by  its  amount  the 
taxes  paid  by  the  citizens.  The  peddler  pays  the  license 
and  the  customers  get  their  taxes  reduced ;  not  much  if 
but  one  peddler  come,  but  a  great  deal  if  many  do. 
Surely,  foreigners  who  sell  competing  articles  in  this 
country  do  the  same  kind  of  business  the  peddler  does. 
They  pay  the  license  or  tariff,  subtract  it  from  their 
profits,  sell  at  the  market  at  a  profit  diminished  by  the 
sum  of  the  tariff,  and  reduce  the  taxation  collected  from 
the  citizens  by  the  amount  the  tariff  puts  into  the  Fed- 
eral treasury. 

When  an  orator  paraphrased  Lincoln's  argument  that 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  235 

if  we  bought  a  ton  of  iron  from  England,  we  had  the 
iron  and  England  had  the  money;  but  if  we  bought  a 
ton  of  iron  made  in  our  own  country  we  had  both  the 
iron  and  the  money,  Madden  added:  "Yes,  and  we  can 
then  borrow  the  money  at  home." 

He  favored  Reciprocity  that  reciprocated.  If  but  one 
country  furnished  an  article  our  people  desired  and 
could  not  produce,  he  would  let  that  in  free;  but  if  two 
or  more  countries  produced  such  things,  he  would  let 
them  in  free  from  those  countries  only  that  would  admit 
an  equivalent  amount  of  our  products  free.  He  opposed 
a  tariff  so  high  as  to  induce  foreigners  to  move  their 
plants  here  while  the  owners  remained  abroad,  because 
that  would  create  a  drain  similar  to  the  foreign  landlord 
drain  on  Ireland.  He  would  not  remove  the  tariff  on 
manufactures  no  longer  needing  it.  That  would  be  like 
destroying  the  cradle  after  the  first  baby  had  learned  to 
walk.  Every  penny  you  took  off  a  tariff  on  competing 
products  was,  in  his  opinion,  a  penny  bonus  given  to  the 
foreign  competitor.  He  would  use  it  to  undersell  you. 
Underselling  you  by  the  amount  of  the  reduction  might 
be  disastrous  to  you,  but  it  would  cost  the  foreigner 
nothing.  No  protective  tariff  had  ever^been  given  in 
this  country  in  the  interest  of  capital ;  it  had  always  been 
levied  to  protect  labor.  It  had  generally  been  fixed  at 
the  supposed  difference  between  the  cost  of  labor  here 
and  in  Europe.  It  had  seldom  been  put  so  high  as  that 
difference,  and  as  a  result  manufacturers  here  had  been 
obliged  to  carry  on  business  at  a  profit  less  than  that  of 
their.  European  rivals  by  an  amount  exceeding  the  tariff. 
In  nearly  every  case  the  difference  between  the  cost  of 
the  American  labor   engaged  in  the  manufacture   of  a 


236  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

thing  and  that  of  the  foreign  workmen  employed  in  mak- 
ing the  same  thing  exceeded  the  amount  of  the  duty  on 
that  thing.  This  was  easily  demonstrated  and  showed 
that  in  all  competing  manufactures  the  American  artisan 
got  in  his  wages  more  than  all  the  tariff.  If  this  were 
made  plain  to  all  American  worfeingmen  they  would  all 
be  Protectionists.  In  all  cases  where  Protection,  by 
increasing  competition,  reduced  prices,  the  consumers 
got  more  benefits  than  the  manufacturers  could  possibly 
retain.  Steel  rails,  when  England  had  a  monopoly  of 
their  manufacture,  cost  as  high  in  this  country  as  $167  a 
ton.  The  ad-valorem  duty  of  about  $47  a  ton,  which 
enabled  our  manufacturers  to  compete,  had  resulted  in 
competition  and  improvement  in  processes  that  had 
brought  the  price  below  $30  a  ton.  The  difference  of 
$137  per  ton,  upon  the  two  or  more  million  tons  used  in 
this  country  every  year,  had  gone  to  the  public  in 
improved,  railroad  service,  reduced  fares  and  lessened 
freight  charges.  The  sum  total  given  to  the  public 
through  the  tariff  on  steel  rails  was  so  enormous  as  to 
make  the  profits  still  retained  by  the  manufacturers  look 
ridiculous  in  comparison.  A  protective  tariff  seldom,  if 
ever,  raised  the  cost  of  a  competing  article.  As  a  rule  it 
lowered  it  and  improved  the  quality:  first,  by  increasing 
the  competition;  second,  by  stimulating  improvement  in 
the  methods  of  manufacture  to  reduce  their  cost  as  com- 
pensation for  loss  of  price. 

The  Harvey  statement  that  the  Act  of  1873  had 
stopped  the  coinage  of  silver  and  by  doubling  the 
work  of  gold  had  made  of  the  gold  dollar  a  two-dollar 
dollar,  was  disproved  by  this  ingenious  retort  from  Mad- 
den; "Have  you  a  silver  dollar?     If  you  have,  look  at 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  237 

the  date  upon  it.  You  will  find  that  that  date  is  of  some 
year  since  1873,  the  time  Harvey  says  we  stopped  coin- 
ing silver.  Every  person  in  this  audience  who  has  a  sil- 
ver dollar  has  in  his  possession  a  proof  that  what  the 
Silverites  say  is  not  true,  that  the  coinage  of  silver  was 
stopped  by  conspiracy  in  1873,  for  every  one  of  these 
dollars  which  you  have,  or  can  get,  was  coined  in  some 
year  since  1873.  I  will  give  $5  apiece  to  any  of  you  for 
every  silver  dollar  you  may  bring  to  me  that  was  coined 
before  that  year.  These  dollars  in  your  possession  are 
proofs  that  all  the  silver  dollars  now  in  circulation  have 
been  coined  since  the  time  the  Silverites  say  we  stopped 
coining  silver,  and  you  cannot  produce  a  single  silver 
dollar  coined  before  that  time,  not  one  minted  during 
what  Harvey  calls  the  period  of  free  and  unlimited  coin- 
age. The  fact  is,  that  all  the  silver  in  circulation  has 
been  coined  since  1873,  and  that  during  these  twenty- 
three  years,  in  which  Harvey  says  silver  coinage  has 
been  stopped,  there  have  been  put  into  circulation  about 
560,000,000  silver  dollars  against  the  10,000,000  minted 
during  the  eighty-one  years  of  free  and  unlimited  coin- 
age before. 

4  *  Bryan  says  the  gold  dollar  has  doubled  in  value  and 
is  now  a  two-dollar  dollar.  Here  are  100  pennies.  We 
began  coining  gold  and  silver  in  1792,  104  years  ago. 
During  every  one  of  these  104  years  these  100  pennies 
would  buy  all  the  gold  there  is  in  a  gold  dollar.  At  no 
time  in  all  these  years  would  the  gold  in  a  gold  dollar  pur- 
chase more  than  100  pennies,  nor  would  less  pennies  buy 
the  gold.  The  100  pennies  will  to-day  buy  a  gold  dollar. 
So,  the  gold  dollar  is  a  dollar  dollar,  and  not  a  200-cent 
dollar,  as  Bryan  says,  and  it  has  not  varied   a  penny  in 


238  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

value  for  104  years.  The  unchangeable  value  of  gold  is 
the  quality  that  makes  it  the  best  money  for  everybody, 
the  laborer  as  well  as  the  capitalist.  Twenty-three  years 
ago  these  100  pennies  would  not  buy  the  silver  in  a  sil- 
ver dollar;  it  took  104  pennies  at  that  time  to  buy  that 
much  silver.  Since  then  so  much  silver  has  been  found 
and  mined  that  the  metal  has  fallen  in  value  because  too 
plentiful.  To-day  the  amount  of  silver  in  a  dollar  will 
not  buy  104  cents,  the  amount  it  was  worth  in  1873. 
It  will  only  bring  47  cents.  So  silver  has  fallen  53  per 
cent,  in  twenty-three  years,  while  gold  has  not  varied  one 
per  cent,  in  value  in  104  years.  That  is  why  every  civ- 
ilized nation  has  discarded  silver  as  standard  money ;  it 
lacks  all  stability  in  value  and  is  the  worst  money  in  the 
world  for  both  the  people  who  must  work  for  wages  and 
those  who  handle  any  kind  of  capital. " 

"What  will  you  say,"  Madden  was  asked,  "to  the 
contention  that  silver  was  demonetized  in  1873?" 

"That  it  was  not.  In  that  year  we  were  still  paying  in 
paper  promises.  These  had  been  at  a  discount  because 
of  the  world's  disbelief  in  our  ability  to  redeem  them  in 
specie.  When  our  ability  to  redeem  approached  par  we 
decided  to  resume  specie  payments  at  a  fixed  date  ahead. 
This  decision  constituted  the  Act  of  1873,  which  set  the 
date  at  1879  and  named  gold  as  the  kind  of  specie  we 
would  pay  in.  We  had  the  right  to  elect  either  kind  of 
specie — silver  or  gold.  Both  were  American  products, 
but  the  latter  we  had  in  greater  abundance,  and  with  us 
it  was  the  cheaper.  The  amount  of  gold  in  a  dollar  was 
obtainable  for  less  than  the  silver  in  a  dollar.  Besides, 
gold  had  become  the  standard  money  of  the  civilized 
world    because    of    its    invariability    in    value  and  its 


PUBLIC   SERVANT  239 

universal  acceptability.  The  Act  of  1873  had  been  before 
Congress  for  three  years  and  had  been  fairly,  fully  and 
publicly  discussed  before  it  was  passed.  At  that  time  it 
was  probable  that  we  could  get  to  the  mint  all  the  gold 
we  needed  for  resumption,  and  it  was  probable  that  we 
could  not  get  enough  silver.  The  legal  ratio  between 
the  metals  for  coinage  purposes  was  sixteen  to  one. 
That  is,  the  law  said  that  at  the  mint  gold  was  worth 
sixteen  times  its  weight  in  silver.  The  truth  was  that 
silver  was  worth  more  than  a  sixteenth  of  its  weight  in 
gold ;  it  was  worth  about  one  and  a  half  fifteenths.  The 
disparity  between  the  commercial  value  of  silver  and  the 
legal  ratio  had  existed  ever  since  the  Democratic  party 
had  fixed  the  legal  ratio  at  sixteen  to  one  in  1834,  and 
during  all  that  time  had  practically  kept  the  silver  dollar 
out  of  general  circulation  and  the  country  on  a  gold  basis. 
During  this  period  the  owners  of  silver  refused  to  have 
it  coined  into  dollars  for  circulation  because  the  law 
called  for  more  bullion  in  the  dollar  than  the  dollar  was 
worth.  The  amount  of  silver  it  took  to  make  a  dollar 
was  during  these  forty- three  years  often  worth  104  cents, 
and  the  only  silver  owners  that  would,  as  a  rule,  give 
104  cents'  worth  of  silver  bullion  to  the  mint  for  silver 
dollars  worth  100  cents  were  the  jewelers  without  smelt- 
ers who  wanted  their  metal  turned  into  sterling  for  plate 
and  were  willing  to  pay  that  premium  to  the  Government 
for  doing  the  smelting.  Silver  dollars  obtained  this  way 
sometimes  escaped  the  melting  pot  and  got  into  circula- 
tion, but  they  were  practically  the  only  ones  that  did. 
During  the  eighty  odd  years  of  'free  and  unlimited'  coin- 
age of  silver  hardly  10,000,000  silver  dollars  were 
coined.     The  silver  dollar  had  retreated  from  circulation 


240  MARTIN   B.  MADDEN 

and  could  not  be  induced  back  unless  we  paid  for  it  more 
than  it  was  worth  according  to  law.  The  gold  dollar 
could  be  had  for  ioo  cents.  It  was  accepted  for  the  work 
of  redemption.  It  would  have  been  unwise  to  do  any- 
thing but  what  we  did  in  1873.  We  did  not  then  demon- 
etize the  silver  dollar.  That  was  done  in  1834.  We 
simply  exercised  the  option  we  had  of  resuming  specie 
payments  in  gold  dollars  worth  par  or  silver  dollars 
worth  a  premium,  and  decided  on  the  par  dollars." 

44 I'm  for  Bryan,"  said  an  Irish  Republican,  44 because 
when  he's  in  I'll  get  sixteen  for  one." 

"That's  not  as  much  as  you're  getting  now,  Pat," 
retorted  Mr.  Madden. 

"Oh,  it's  sixteen  times  more." 

"No,  it  isn't,  Patrick,  You  now  get  thirty-two  for 
one.  Bryan's  sixteen  for  one  is  only  half  of  your  thirty- 
two  for  one." 

44 How  do  you  argue  that,  riow?" 

44  It  is  the  gold  and  silver  ratio  question.  If  you  work, 
and  get,  we'll  say,  an  ounce  of  gold,  you  can  take  that 
ounce  of  gold  and  sell  it  anywhere  in  the  world  for 
thirty -two  ounces  of  silver,  because  everywhere  gold  is 
worth  thirty-two  times  its  weight  in  silver.  That  is  what 
is  meant  by  thirty-two  to  one.  Now,  if  Bryan  should  be 
elected  he'll  be  for  only  sixteen  to  one.  His  scheme  is 
to  make  gold  worth  only  sixteen  times  its  weight  in 
silver  instead  of  thirty-two  times  as  it  is  now.  So, 
Patrick,  if  Bryan  wins  you  will  only  get  sixteen  ounces 
of  silver  for  your  ounce  of  gold  instead  of  the  thirty-two 
you  can  get  now.  You  will  then  get  only  half  as  much 
as  you  can  get  now." 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  241 

"That  looks  like  a  bunco  game,  Mr.  Madden,  on  me. 
I'll  not  be  for  it." 

The  cleverest  rejoinder  made  in  the  whole  campaign 
to  one  of  Bryan's  sophistries  was  the  following:  "You 
ask  me  to  vote  for  Bryan  because  if  he  be  elected  he  will 
establish  the  ratio  of  sixteen  to  one  as  the  ratio  of  value 
between  gold  and  silver.  The  ratio  is  at  present  thirty-' 
two  to  one.  I  can  now  take  my  gold  anywhere  and  get 
for  it  thirty-two  times  its  weight  in  silver.  Under 
Bryan's  plan  1  would  get  only  sixteen  ounces  of  silver  for 
my  ounce  of  gold.  That  is  but  half  of  what  I  can  now  get. 
How  would  I  gain  by  Bryan's  election?  It  seems  to  me 
I  would  lose  exactly  half  the  present  value  of  my  gold. 
You  say  that  if  Bryan  be  elected  his  policy  will  increase 
the  value  of  silver  until  sixteen  ounces  of  it  will  be 
worth  as  much  as  thirty-two  are  now.  I  am  at  thirty- 
two  now.  If  I  go  to  sixteen,  as  Bryan  wishes,  what 
guarantee  have  I  that  he  will  be  able  to  bring  me  back  to 
thirty-two.  Even  if  he  can  do  what  he  says  and  double 
the  value  of  silver,  it  would  be  better  for  me  to  remain 
where  I  am,  for  that  would  make  my  thirty-two  ounces 
worth  sixty-four,  whereas  if  I  went  to  sixteen  I  would 
only  be  back  to  thirty- two,  where  I  started."  This 
juggle  never  failed  during  the  campaign  to  dislodge  any 
Bryanite  who  had  to  encounter  it,  and  it  usually  con- 
vinced an  audience  that  the  sixteen  to  one  argument  was 
evidence  of  brain  ailment. 

When  the  non-committal  attitude  of  Mr.  McKinley 
on  the  question  of  the  money  standard  was  pointed  out 
to  Mr.  Madden  at  St.  Louis  before  the  Convention 
assembled,  he    replied:     "Mr.   McKinley's    genius    lies 

16 


242  MARTIN    B.   MADDEtf 

in  the  representativeness  of  his  character.  In  this  he 
surpasses  any  man  who  has  been  named  for  the  Presi- 
dency in  the  past  forty  years.  He  has  personal  views  of 
great  value  on  all  public  questions,  but  he  is  too  honest, 
so  long  as  the  public  regard  him  as  a  national  represent- 
ative of  Republican  sentiment,  to  put  his  views  forward 
until  they  are  the  views  of  his  party.  Absolute  political 
integrity  demands  just  such  conduct  on  the  part  of  rep- 
resentative party  men.  Party  sentiment  is  the  composite 
result  of  the  pooling  of  the  views  of  all  its  members. 
When  a  man  is  chosen  either  by  election  or  selection  to 
represent  the  views  of  his  party  and  he  assents  to  the 
task,  he  is  in  honor  bound  to  refrain  from  making  public 
political  statements  at  variance  with  the  expressed  atti- 
tude of  his  party.  The  Republican  party  has  not  yet 
declared  for  either  gold  or  silver.  When  it  does  declare 
its  position,  you  will  find  that  Mr.  McKinley  will  have 
enough  to  say.;  and  you  will  also  find  that  all  he  shall 
say  will  correctly  reflect  the  sentiment  of  his  party.  So 
long  as  he  remains  a  public  representative  of  the  Repub- 
lican party,  he  will  represent  it  with  strict  accuracy;  he 
will  not  try  to  lead  it  or  to  push  it.  If  he  be  elected 
President  by  the  American  people,  he  will  correctly 
ascertain  their  wishes,  and  then  carry  them  out.  In 
neither  case  will  he  attempt  individuality.  He  will  be 
exclusively  representative.  He  is  too  honest  to  accept 
any  representative  position  for  the  purpose  of  exploiting 
either  his  personal  views  or  his  personal  ambitions,  or 
doing  anything  else  than  carrying  out  the  known  wishes 
of  those  who  trust  him  in  a  representative  way." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


URGED  TO  ACCEPT  SENATORSHIP  FROM   ILLINOIS — REASONS  THERE- 
FOR—NECESSARY VOTES    SECURED. 


THE  national  election  in  1896  made  Illinois  Republi- 
can by  over  150,000  majority.  The  Legislature 
elected  that  fall  assured  the  choice  in  January,  1897,  of 
a  Republican  to  represent  the  state  in  the  United  States 
Senate  in  the  place  of  the  Hon.  John  M.  Palmer,  Dem- 
ocrat, whose  term  expired  on  the  4th  of  March  following. 
The  party  organization  was  thorough  and  retained  its 
headquarters  in  Chicago,  where  it  had  performed  won- 
derful work  in  the  McKinley  campaign.  The  leaders 
started  out  to  obtain  the  best  possible  candidate  to  act  as 
colleague  to  Senator  Shelby  M.  Cullom.  After  a  critical 
survey  of  the  situation  they  asked  Mr.  Madden  to  permit 
his  name  to  go  before  the  Legislature  for  the  place.  He 
had  accomplished  so  much  creditable  work  at  the  St. 
Louis  Convention  and  on  the  stump  during  the  canvass, 
that  there  was  a  general  expression  among  party  men  in 
all  parts  of  the  state  in  favor  of  his  candidacy.  He  was 
sent  for  and  invited  to  a  conference,  where  the  organiza- 
tion's desire  was  made  known  to  him.  He  hesitated  a 
long  time.  He  was  weary  from  overwork  in  the  City 
Council  and  had  large  financial  interests  intrusted  to  his 
care.  One  of  these,  the  Western  Stone  Company,  of  which 
he  was  President,  had,  through  its  Board  of  Directors, 
requested  him  to  abandon  public  life   and    devote   his 

243 


244  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

efforts  to  the  further  development  of  the  stone  trade. 
This  concern  was  paying  him  a  large  salary,  one  of  the 
largest  received  by  any  Western  business  manager,  and 
was  entitled  to  first  consideration.  To  accept  the  party's 
proposition  involved  the  abandonment  of  this  and  other 
incomes,  amounting  to  many  tens  of  thousands  of  dollars 
a  year — a  great  sacrifice  for  a  man  not  yet  forty-two 
years  old.  He  asked  if  some  other  equally  suitable  can- 
didate could  not  be  found  whose  acceptance  would  not  be 
at  such  a  great  personal  loss  as  he  was  asked  to  incur. 
To  this  the  managers  replied  that  the  Republican  organ- 
ization desired  to  send  to  the  assistance  of  President 
McKinley  in  the  terrible  ordeal  he  was  about  to  go 
through  the  most  efficient  man  the  state  could  yield 
through  the  party.  The  new  Senator,  it  was  pointed 
out,'  should  be  young  and  able  to  withstand  great  labor. 
He  should  be  experienced  and  capable  in  legislative  and 
committee  work;  able  in  speech  and  with  the  pen;  pos- 
sess talent  for  stating  with  power  and  effect  the  argu- 
ments the  Republicans  of  Illinois  believed  should  influ- 
ence impending  congressional  action;  be  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  the  people  of  Illinois  and  of  Chicago, 
and  with  their  views  on  the  public  questions  pressing  for 
settlement;  entirely  reliable  as  an  exponent  of  the 
wishes  of  the  people  of  the  state;  able  financially  to  go 
as  the  commonwealth's  representative  at  Washington, 
and  known  to  all  the  people  as  a  public  servant  tested  and 
found  competent  and  trustworthy.  The  state  and  county 
and  city  committees  had  gone  all  over  the  subject  and 
decided  upon  him,  and  the  request  to  seek  the  nomina- 
tion was  put  to  him  as  a  matter  of  public  duty. 

Still  hesitating,   Mr.   Madden  asked  if  he    was   the 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  .        245 

first  choice  of  the  organization.  He  was  assured  he  was. 
Then  he  asked  if  there  was  any  other  choice.  There 
was  not,  he  was  answered. 

"One  other  question,"  he  persisted;  "is  there  a  sec- 
ond choice?" 

"Why  do  you  ask  that?"  the  spokesman  for  the  party 
managers  rejoined. 

"Because,"  the  Alderman  said,  "a second  choice  may 
be  a  first  choice  under  cover." 

Assurance  was  given  to  him  that  there  was  no  second 
choice,  nor  any  other  choice  but  himself — he  was  the  sole 
choice,  and  he  was  urged  to  accept  the  task  of  seeking 
the  election  as  a  matter  of  duty.     He  consented. 

His  canvass  of  Cook  County  showed  him  that  the  assur- 
ances given  to  him  by  the  managers  were  sound — all  the 
twenty-one  members  of  the  county  in  the  Legislature 
readily  pledged  their  votes  to  him.  A  tour  of  the  state 
was  then  made.  It  resulted  in  securing  the  pledged 
votes  of  fifty-one  more  members  of  the  Legislature.  Mr. 
Madden  now  had  seventy-two  votes.  It  required  sixty- 
three  only  to  get  the  party  caucus  nomination  and  as  a 
result  the  election. 

Matters  remained  in  this  shape  until  the  Legislature 
met.     When  it  convened  the  Alderman  went  to  Spring- 
field and  found  the  seventy-two  votes  awaiting  him  and 
ready  to  be  cast  for  him  as  soon  as  the  task  of  electing, 
the  United  States  Senator  should  be  reached. 

The  work  he  had  done  in  making  the  canvass  for  these 
votes  was  very  difficult  and  wearisome.  It  was  accom- 
plished with  so  little  fuss  and  its  result  was  so  complete 
that  it  should  not  excite  wonder  if  there  were  men  who 


246        .  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

imagined  they  could  also  have  performed  it,  or  could 
even  undo  it  in  their  own  interest. 

It  was  not  long  before  tale-bearers  began  to  carry 
suspicions  to  Mr.  Madden.  The  purport  of  most  of 
these  was  that  some  of  the  party  managers  were  so 
pleased  at  the  practical  unanimity  among  the  Republican 
members  of  the  Legislature  that  they  saw  a  lessening  of 
the  necessity  for  the  making  of  such  a  sacrifice  as  going 
to  Washington  would  entail  on  the  President  of  the 
Western  Stone  Company;  and  that  the  financial  interests 
in  Mr.  Madden's  care  could  not  afford  to  lose  his  services 
at  the  time.  To  all  this  gossip  the  Alderman  turned  a 
deaf  ear.  "Have  you  no  suspicions?"  he  was  asked  by  a 
friend.  "None  whatever,"  was  the  response;  "they  are 
unhealthy  and  I  am  immune  from  them." 

Before  the  day  of  the  balloting  some  of  the  managers 
requested  the  Alderman  to  attend  a  conference.  At  this 
he  was  told  that  an  investigation  of  the  pledge  list 
showed  that  he  had  lost  voters  enough  to  endanger  his 
chances.  Demanding  to  know  how  many  had  proved 
recalcitrant,  he  was  informed  twelve  had,  and  their  names 
were  furnished.  He  went  out  and  reinstated  his  list. 
More  than  once  he  did  similar  reinstatement  work.  The 
senatorship  was  a  great  prize  and  many  powerful  men 
were  straining  after  it.  Madden  expected  this.  The 
office  was  not  his.  It  belonged  to  the  people  of  Illinois, 
who  were  about  to  bestow  it  through  the  Republican 
party.  It  would  go  to  the  man  who  could  induce  the 
party  to  give  it  to  him. 

At  length  the  managers  informed  the  Alderman  that 
it  had  been  decided  after  much  controversy  on  the 
ground    that  a  new  candidate  was  desirable  for    party 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  247 

expediency — to  adjust  differences  that  otherwise  might 
prove  disruptive — and  he  was  asked  to  release  the  votes 
pledged  to  him.  When  the  matter  was  put  to  him  in 
that  way  he  did  not  haggle ;  he  yielded  as  a  matter  of 
course. 

The  release  at  once  scattered  the  Cook  County  mem- 
bers. The  result  was  a  scramble.  It  became  impossible 
for  the  managers  to  reconcentrate  the  votes  necessary  to 
elect.  The  Cook  County  members  would  unite  for  any 
other  candidate  the  managers  should  designate,  but  the 
country  members  under  no  circumstances  would.  The 
majority  of  the  seventy-two  were,  however,  in  favor  of  a 
Chicago  candidate,  the  country  having  a  representative  in 
Mr.  Cullom,  whose  home  was  in  Springfield. 

The  disorder  continued,  Mr.  Madden  having  practi- 
cally retired  as  a  candidate.  The  Chicago  delegation, 
having  gone  away  from  him,  with  his  permission, 
remained  pledged  to  their  second  choice.  He  was  unable 
to  induce  his  followers  from  the  country  to  go  in  a  body 
to  any  other  candidate,  although  they  all  favored  the 
election  of  a  Chicago  man.  A  majority  of  them  were 
willing  to  vote  for  Mr.  William  E.  Mason,  but  for  no 
other  Cook  County  man,  except  Mr.  Madden.  As 
Mason  could  be  elected  with  these  votes,  and  no  other 
candidate  could  get  them  or  be  elected  without  them, 
they  were  permitted  to  go  to  him,  and  he  was  elected. 

It  is  well  known  that  Mr.  Madden  has  made  it  a  rule 
never  to  indulge  in  any  kind  of  gossip;  never  to  reply  to 
criticism  upon  his  personal  conduct;  and  never  to  impugn 
the  motives  of  an  acquaintance,  especially  a  friend.  He 
has  always  seemed  to  regard  his  failure  to  be  elected 
Senator  in  1897  with   indifference.      But  he  discusses  it 


248  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

with  complete  frankness.  He  says  that  the  gentlemen 
who  induced  him  to  become  a  candidate  were  all  friends, 
and  are  still. 

When  they  secured  his  consent  to  be  a  candidate  he 
was  absolutely  their  only  choice.  He  never  ceased  to  be 
their  personal  choice.  Even  when  they  asked  him  to 
step  aside  for  another  candidate  they  would  have  pre- 
ferred him  as  Senator.  What  they  then  attempted  was 
tried  for  the  party's  welfare,  and  as  an  expedient 
thought  necessary.  The  tactics  might  have  been  a  mis- 
take; it  was  no  more,  even  if  that.  His  friends,  he 
claims,  were  acting  for  the  best  interests  of  the  party,  as 
he  was,  and  he  spurns  all  suggestion  that  there  was  any 
lack  of  either  good  faith  or  loyalty  on  their  part  towards 
him  in  any  part  of  the  proceeding. 

The  Republicans  of  the  state  were  keenly  disappointed 
over  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Madden.  He  was  looked 
upon  as  an  ideal  man  to  represent  Illinois  in  the  United 
States  Senate  in  the  period  of  American  commercial 
development  then  felt  to  be  imminent  and  which  has 
since  come.  It  was  taken  for  granted  that  he  would 
from  the  first  rank  as  one  of  the  greatest  committeemen 
and  staters  of  public  questions  ever  sent  to  the  Senate. 
But  there  could  be  no  criticism  of  his  attitude:  "I  am 
for  the  man  the  people  of  Illinois  want,  whether  that  be 
myself  or  some  other.  I  stood  for  the  place  only  while 
I  had  official  assurance  that  I  was  the  candidate  the  peo- 
ple desired ;  I  retired  the  moment  I  was  made  aware  the 
people  wished  somebody  else. " 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


GOES  TO    PHILADELPHIA    CONVENTION— REPRESENTS    ILLINOIS  ON 
PLATFORM   COMMITTEE. 


ONE  of  the  most  remarkable  instances  in  American 
political  history  of  the  influence  of  a  single  state 
delegation  on  the  conduct  of  a  national  party,  occurred 
through  the  action  of  the  Illinois  men  who  represented 
their  state  in  the  Republican  Convention  at  Philadelphia 
in  June,  i^oo.  Although  the  act  was  of  world-wide 
importance,  although  it  conserved  the  friendship  of  one 
of  the  great  nations  for  this  country  and  saved  the  dom- 
inant party  from  committing  a  political  blunder  as  well 
as  an  international  offense,  it  was  done  so  quietly  and 
effectively  as  to  escape  the  observation  of  all  but  the 
very  few  who  of  necessity  were  cognizant  of  the  sanc- 
tuary proceedings. 

Illinois  had  been  the  battleground  of  the  campaign 
of  1896.  Everyone  well  informed  respecting  public 
affairs  realized  that  the  state  would  again  be  the  chief 
theater  of  the  struggle  in  1900.  She  is  the  heart  of  the 
great  Middle  West,  and  her  pulsations  affect  decisively 
the  political  health  and  activity  of  all  those  great  sur- 
rounding commonwealths,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Missouri, 
Kansas,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  and  Michigan. 

The  Illinois  men  went  to  Philadelphia  with  full  intelli- 
gence of  the  popular  feeling  of  this  immense  region  on 

249 


250  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

all  living  public  questions,  and  determined  on  having 
this  feeling  secure  adequate  influence  in  the  policy  of  the 
Republican  party. 

When  the  delegates  from  all  the  states  and  territories 
had  arrived  and  exchanged  views  preparatory  to  conven- 
ing for  official  work,  it  was  found  that,  outside  of  the 
Middle  West,  there  existed  a  dangerous  sureness  of  vic- 
tory and  a  corresponding  indisposition  to  work  out  any 
detailed  and  comprehensive  plan  of  campaign.  The 
drift  was  towards  a  cut-and-dried  programme.  In  fact, 
most  of  the  delegates  seemed  disposed  to  treat  the  Con- 
vention as  a  sort  of  re-union,  and  to  expect  to  simply 
ratify,  without  investigation  or  criticism,  any  policy  pre- 
sented by  those  in  official  charge  of  the  proceedings. 
The  situation  was  dangerous  politically,  for  no  matter 
how  careful  and  conscientious  the  members  of  an  Admin- 
istration may  be,  it  is  simply  impossible  for  them  alone 
to  draft  a  statement  of  a  policy  for  national  party  action 
which  will  be  as  comprehensive  and  popular  as  a  plat- 
form that  is  the  outcome  of  the  exchanged  thought  of  the 
delegates  representing  every  part  of  the  country  and  all 
its  needs  and  aspirations. 

The  most  serious  peril  that  threatened  the  party  in 
power,  however,  was  the  uncertain  attitude  of  the  old 
line  Democrats.  Any  just  analysis  of  the  vote  cast  in 
1896  showed  that  Mr.  McKinley's  election  was  mainly,  if 
not  wholly,  due  to  the  support  of  the  Jeffersonians  and 
Jacksonians.  These  patriotic  men  were  unwavering 
believers  in  the  principle  of  the  Gold  Standard,  in  the 
policy  of  expansion,  and  in  the  duty  of  upholding  the 
integrity  of  the  Federal  Courts.  Their  faith  was  a  mat- 
ter of  fiber  in  their  mental  make-up:  a  matter  of  political 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  251 

heredity  developed  through  several  generations.  They 
claimed,  and  rightly,  that  Jefferson  made  it  possible  for 
the  country  to  grow  with  its  requirements  when  he  intro- 
duced the  policy  of  Expansion  into  American  affairs  by 
the  Louisiana  Purchase;  that  Jackson  had  put  the 
Republic  on  the  gold  basis;  and  that  the  Federal  Judi- 
ciary was  the  very  child  of  Democracy  and  the  apple  of  its 
eye.  When  the  crowd  without  political  ancestry  obtained 
control  of  the  party  organization  at  Chicago,  in  1896, 
nominated  Mr.  Bryan  as  a  Democrat,  and  proclaimed 
the  platform  attacking  all  their  cherished  political  prin- 
ciples, these  Jefferson  and  Jackson  men  abandoned  the 
organization  in  a  body.  They  would  have  formed  a 
great  third  party  but  for  their  conviction  that  it  was  their 
duty  to  stamp  Populism  out  of  political  affairs  by  the 
most  available  means  at  hand.  When  they  realized  that 
the  Republicans  were  sincerely  advocating  real  Demo- 
cratic principles,  especially  those  of  Sound  Money, 
Expansion  and  Conservation  of  the  powers  of  the  Federal 
Courts,  they  gradually,  but  without  effort  at  recognition, 
went  over  to  the  Republican  ranks  and  gave  them  the 
numerical  strength  needed  for  victory. 

It  cannot  be  denied,  however,  that  in  1900  the  Dem- 
ocrats had  not  been  satisfied  entirely  with  Republican 
management.  The  conviction  had  grown  among  them 
that  it  would  be  better  to  reorganize  the  old  party.  A 
powerful  general  movement  towards  this  had  com- 
menced. It  had  been  materially  helped  by  the  Corbin- 
Miles  affair,  in  which,  the  Democrats  believed,  the  man- 
agement of  the  Spanish  War  had  been  taken  away  from 
the  competent  commanding  general  and  placed  in  the 
hands  of  a  bureau  chief  as  an  act  of  personal  favoritism; 


252  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

by  the  Alger  matter,  by  the  Porto  Rican  tariff  tangle, 
the  management  in  Cuba,  the  protracted  fighting  in  the 
Philippines,  and  the  continually  recurring  controversy 
over  the  Sampson-Schley  dispute.  A  conviction  had  spread 
that  the  Republicans,  instead  of  appreciating  the  value  of 
Democratic  aid,  were  averse  to  permitting  any  Democrat 
to  obtain  a  career  or  achieve  popular  distinction. 

It  is  now  apparent  that  if  the  Democrats  had  got 
together  again  and  put  up  an  old  line  man  of  character 
and  ability  at  Kansas  City,  the  result  of  the  election  in 
1900  might  have  been  different.  It  seems  now  as  if  the 
Republican  party  could  not  have  successfully  withstood 
the  defection.  This,  at  least,  was  the  prevailing  belief 
among  the  Democrats  throughout  the  South,  East  and 
Middle  West.  How  strong  this  belief  was,  and  what  a 
powerful  inspiration  it  afforded,  was  shown  when  at 
Kansas  City  it  appeared  for  a  while  possible  to  nominate 
David  B.  Hill  instead  of  Bryan.  The  Convention  simply 
went  wild  with  delirious  hope;  the  cheers  for  the  New 
Yorker  at  one  of  his  appearances  lasted  in  full  volume 
for  fifteen  minutes.  ;  If  that  nomination  had  gone  to 
Hill,  the  Republicans  would  not  have  been  able  to  use 
any  of  the  arguments  which  made" them  so  strong  before 
the  people  in  the  following  campaign.  The  Democrats 
would  have  had  the  arguments,  and  the  Republicans 
would  have  been  on  the  defensive  from  start  to  finish, 
with  master  hands  keeping  them  explaining. 

Many  students  of  public  affairs  contend  that  if  Tam- 
many Hall  had  supported  Hill  at  Kansas  City  he  would 
have  been  nominated.  Mr.  Croker,  while  entertaining 
in  London  a  friend  of  the  writer,  a  short  time  before  the 
Kansas  City  Convention,   freely  discussed  the  political 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  253 

prospects.  He  seemed  to  entertain  the  belief  then  that 
his  party  could  win  in  the  fall  of  1900  if  it  could  nomi- 
nate a  Democrat  "and  at  the  same  time  make  the  plat- 
form Democratic. "  Otherwise,  he  preferred  to  have  the 
Republicans  retain  the  management  of  the  Government, 
rather  than  have  the  Populists  get  it.  He  was  asked  what 
his  policy  would  be  in  case  he  found  at  Kansas  City 
that  it  would  not  be  possible  to  secure  a  Democratic  plat- 
form. His  reply  indicated  that  in  that  event  Tammany 
would  prevent  the  nomination  and  sacrifice  of  a  real 
Democrat,  and  welcome  a  defeat  so  disastrous  that  it 
would  result  in  the  total  elimination  of  Mr.  Bryan  from 
Democratic  politics.  He  added:  M The  best  thing  then 
would  be  to  let  them  make  a  platform  as  bad  as  possible; 
the  worse  the  better." 

The  Illinois  men  had  thoroughly  informed  themselves 
about  the  trend  of  affairs  in  the  Democratic  party  and 
were  amazed  at  the  lack  of  knowledge  respecting  it 
among  many  of  the  Eastern,  Southern  and  Western  dele- 
gates. They  set  themselves  to  the  task  of  arousing  their 
colleagues  to  proper  appreciation  of  the  real  condition  and 
to  the  work  of  correcting  it  so  far  as  lay  in  their  power. 

With  characteristic  energy  they  quickly  formed  a  sort 
of  "steering  committee."  This  was  composed  of  such 
men  as  Mr.  Cannon,  member  from  the  Dansville  district 
and  Chairman  of  the  House  Committee  on  Appropriations, 
Congressman  Reeves,  of  La  Salle,  and  men  like  th£se, 
who  had  been  especially  active  in  all  the  congressional 
detail  work  appertaining  to  the  conduct  of  the  Spanish 
War,  and  knew  the  needs  of  the  Middle  West.  These 
gentlemen,  as  Mr.  Cannon  expressed  it,  "went  on  a  cate- 
chising expedition,"  for   the  purpose  of  finding  a  dele- 


254  MARTIN   B.  MADDEN 

gate  "well-up"  on  the  questions  of  the  day,  especially  on 
those  respecting  the  Inter-Oceanic  Canal,  Labor,  and 
Currency,  to  act  for  the  Middle  West  on  the  Committee 
on  Resolutions.  The  inquisitors  put  many  a  strong  man 
through  what  the  Appropriations  Chairman  described  as 
a  "course  of  sprouts. "  Finally,  they  applied  the  cate- 
chism to  Mr.  Madden,  who  was  one  of  the  Chicago  dele- 
gates. "He  is  our  man,"  said  Cannon,  "he  knows  more 
than  any  other  man  we've  met  about  the  whole  situation. 
Where  he  ever  learned  it  all,  I  can't  even  guess.  But 
he  has  the  knowledge.  What's  more,  he  possesses  the 
faculty  of  irresistible  statement.  What's  even  better  yet, 
he  has  the  energy  and  force  of  character  to  accomplish. 
He  knows  things;  can  get  at  things;  can  do  things.  He 
is  our  man." 

The  result  was  that  Mr.  Madden  was  unanimously 
deputed  by  the  Illinois  delegates  to  represent  their  state 
in  the  Committee  on  Resolutions.  He  accepted  the 
task,  realizing  fully  what  he  was  expected  to  do. 

At  the  very  first  session  of  the  committee  it  was 
ascertained  that  the  party  managers,  having  failed  to 
induce  any  specialized  action  on  the  part  of  any  of  the 
leading  delegates,  had  prepared  a  programme  and  had 
done  the  best  in  their  power.  But,  as  good  as  was  their 
work,  it  was  not  of  the  representative  and  comprehensive 
character  which  the  Illinois  delegate  thought  the  situa- 
tion demanded.  It  took  but  a  few  words  to  impress  this 
upon  all  the  members  of  the  committee,  and  they  went 
to  work  and  framed  a  fresh  platform  covering  the  whole 
ground  anew,  each  member  phrasing  the  part  his  espe- 
cial ability  qualified  him  the  best  to  indite.  The  result 
was  what  is  by  many  conceded  to  be  the  best  platform 
ever  enunciated  by  the  Republican  party, 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 


WRITING    THE    REPUBLICAN    PLATFORM     FOR     I9OO— INSERTS     THE 
WORD  ISTHMIAN — SECURES   FAIR   PLAY   FOR  FRANCE. 


THE  Inter-Oceanic  Canal  question  was  the  one  the  Mid- 
dle West  was  most  interested  in.  If  matters  had 
been  allowed  to  drift  as  they  were  going  at  first,  the  party 
would  have  been  committed  in  its  declaration  of  prin- 
ciples to  a  specific  route,  as  a  rich  company  of  Americans 
interested  in  that  route  had  been  skillfully  exploiting  it. 
Mr.  Madden  had  all  along  been  opposed  to  this  as  a 
National  policy,  and  he  had  done  all  in  his  power,  while 
engaged  in  the  work  of  forming  public  opinion,  to  pre- 
vent it. 

His  argument  was  substantially  as  follows: 
He  was  in  favor  of  the  better  route  of  the  two..  If 
other  routes  should  be  discovered  he  would  be  in  favor 
of  the  best.  The  main  thing  was  to  get  a  canal  across 
the  Isthmus.  It  would  expedite  American  international 
trade,  keep  down  transportation  charges  across  the  coun- 
try, and  give  us  the  use  of  our  entire  navy  for  the  pro- 
tection of  either  of  our  coasts.  Hitherto,  our  navy  had 
been  considered  mainly  an  Eastern  defense.  Now  that 
the  Chinese  territorial  and  trade  questions  were  being 
pressed  upon  the  world,  our  Pacific  coast  was  becoming 
equal  in  importance  to  our  Atlantic  in  the  matters  of  use 
and  necessity  of  defense.  The  canal  problem  had  ceased 
to  be  solely  one  of  trade — of  shortening  distance  to  and 

255 


256  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

from  markets,  and  regulating  and  lessening  transporta- 
tion charges.  It  was  now  chiefly  a  question  of  national 
boundary. 

The  Nicaragua  line  might  be  the  best.  The  Amer- 
ican syndicate  exploiting  it  insisted  it  was.  We  natur- 
ally hoped  our  men  were  right.  A  commission  was  now 
on  the  ground  examining  into  that  phase  of  the  question. 

The  science  of  French  engineering,  on  the  other  hand, 
had  decided  that  the  Panama  route  was  better.  The 
French  route  was  shorter,  and,  with  ample  means,  might 
afford  a  waterway  without  locks,  and  wholly  on  tide 
level.  This,  the  Nicaragua  could  not  do.  The  latter, 
besides,  was  said  to  be  subject  to  volcanic  tipheavals. 
These  occurred  sometimes  in  Lake  Nicaragua.  They 
would  be  a  menace  to  the  channel,  and  might  make  it 
impassable  to  our  ships  during  a  foreign  war,  rendering 
the  whole  canal  useless  in  a  crisis. 

He  did  not  say  he  took  stock  in  these  or  any  other 
arguments  against  the  Nicaragua  route.  He  simply 
stated  them  as  they  were  made.  If  the  Republican  party 
should  be  tied  to  the  project  of  the  Nicaragua  route  and 
then  should  elect  its  ticket,  and  in  carrying  out  the 
party's  pledge  the  second  Administration  of  Mr.  McKinley 
should  construct  the  canal  across  Nicaragua,  what  would 
the  country  say  if  events  should  prove  the  instability  of 
the  route?  Especially  if  France  should  have  gone  on  and 
finished  the  Panama  Canal? 

No  one  could  doubt  that  the  French  would  build  the 
Panama  Canal  if  we  did  not.  They  would  do  so  even  if 
we  should  construct  a  waterway  across  Nicaragua.  They 
would  do  this  because  they  were  committed  to  the  task, 
had  faith  in  the  route  as  the   best  and  had  invested  a 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  257 

couple  of  hundred  millions  in  the  work.  They  were  cer- 
tain that  if  both  canals  should  be  completed,  the  Panama 
would  be  more  used  by  the  world  than  the  Nicaragua, 
because  shorter,  cheaper  and  safer. 

If  we  committed  ourselves  to  the  Nicaragua,  the 
French  would  not  retreat  from  the  Panama.  Our  action 
would  then  simply  bring  about  the  construction  of  two 
canals,  as  the  Panama  would  unquestionably  be  built. 
In  that  event,  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  would  always  be  a 
theater  of  international  rivalry,  misunderstanding  and 
complication. 

With  two  Isthmian  canals  in  operation,  the  United 
States  would  possess  no  advantage  not  possessed  by  our 
rivals  and  even  by  our  enemies.  With  but  one  canal,  our 
proper  dominance  on  this  continent  would  remain  unim- 
paired and  tmimperiled. 

France  simply  insisted  that  a  canal  be  built  across  the 
Isthmus  along  the  best  way,  which  she  claimed  was  the 
Panama  route.  She  would  rather  have  the  United  States 
build  it  than  have  any  other  power  do  it,  even  herself. 
She  stood  ready  to  yield  her  place  and  all  her  rights  in 
the  Panama  Canal  enterprise  to  the  United  States.  Her 
position  was  friendly  and  above  suspicion. 

It  would  not  do  to  say  that  this  was  "not  business,  it 
is  sentiment."  The  French  were  both  "business"  and 
"sentimental."'  They  were  lovable  because  they  were 
sentimental.  Lafayette  was  sentimental  in  our  Revolu- 
tion; so  were  all  his  countrymen.  There  was  no  "busi- 
ness" at  all  in  what  they  then  did  for  us;  it  was  all  "sen- 
timent." 

The  most  that  could  be  justly  urged  against  France's 
proposition  was  that  she  might  be  mistaken  about  the 

17 


258  MARTIN   B.  MADDEN 

Panama  being  the  best  route.  But  suppose,  after  we 
had  built  the  Nicaragua  Canal  and  France  had  completed 
the  Panama,  we  should  find  that  we  had  made  a  mistake 
and  that  France  was  right!  The  error  would  then  be 
irremediable. 

France  was  our  friend.  She  had  always  been.  She 
had  been  as  good  a  friend  when  we  were  in  need  of  sol- 
diers and  sailors  as  she  had  been  in  our  most  envied 
-  prosperity.  It  would  not  be  fair  to  our  friend,  France, 
to  decide  against  her  proposition  before  we  got  through 
with  our  investigation  of  all  the  possible  routes  for  a 
canal  across  the  Isthmus.  To  decide  in  favor  of  .any  one 
route  against  the  French  before  we  had  completely 
investigated  all  the  routes,  would  be  to  affront  a  friendly 
people  without  any  reason  at  all,  and  be  doing  a  very 
foolish  thing  anyway. 

It  was  contended  by  some  of  the  best  engineers  in  the 
world  that  the  only  advantage  the  Nicaragua  route  had 
over  the  Panama  route  lay  in  the  matter  of  expense ; 
that  is,  that  we  could  build  a  canal  by  Lake  Nicaragua 
for  less  money  than  it  would  cost  us  to  buy  out  the 
French  claim  and  finish  the  Panama  ditch.  The  conten- 
tion was  not  at  all  reasonable,  because  the  French  had 
not  yet  made  to  us  their  last  offer. 

Any  suggestion  of  haggling  on  our  part  with  France 
would  be  painful  to  most  Americans.  They  would 
resent  it  as  ungracious  and  insist  on  having  France 
treated  as  a  welcome  negotiator,  at  the  very  least.  She 
was  so  anxious  to  have  what  she  deemed  the  best  route 
used  that  it  was  more  than  probable  that  if  Jionest 
investigation  should  show  that  the  Panama  route  was  as 
good   as  that  of   Nicaragua   in  all  matters  but  that  of 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  259 

expense,  she  would  offer  to  sell  out  to  us  at  any  loss  tfrat 
might  induce  us  to  take  and  complete  her  undertaking. 

He  was  not  arguing  for  the  French  route,  nor  for  the 
Nicaragua  route.  He  was  simply  for  a  canal  between 
the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans  by  the  best  route  across 
the  Isthmus. 

Which  was  the  best  route  had  not  yet  been  ascertained. 
Until  it  was  ascertained  he  objected  to  having  the 
Republican  party  committed  to  any  route. 

He  wished  and  urged  to  have  the  party  pledged  irre- 
vocably to  the  work  of  constructing  a  canal  across  the 
Isthmus  by  the  best  route  that  could  be  found. 

Until  it  could  be  decided  which  was  the  best  route, 
and  until  the  route  offered  to  us  by  our  friends,  the 
French,  was  decided  not  the  best,  he  protested  against 
having  the  Republican  party  committed  to  the  injustice 
of  barring  the  French  proffer  from  the  negotiations. 

He  recommended  that  the  plank  on  the  canal  question 
should  simply  pledge  the  party,  in  the  event  of  success 
in  the  coming  election,  to  build  an  Isthmian  canal,  leav- 
ing the  question  of  route  entirely  open,  to  be  settled  as 
the  facts  to  be  yet  developed  warranted. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  requested  Mr.  Mad- 
den to  prepare  a  plank  on  the  canal  question.  While  he 
was  doing  this,  other  members  composed  planks  on  the 
same  subject.  When  they  were  finished  and  handed  in, 
on  the  motion  of  Senators  Foraker  and  Cushman  Davis, 
the  plank  prepared  by  the  Illinois  man  was  unanimously 
adopted  and  it  was  ordered  inserted  in  the  platform  as 
the  official  expression  of  the  attitude  of  the  Republican 
party  on  the  question.     The  plank  is  as  follows: 

4fcWe  favor  the  Construction,   Ownership  and  Protec- 


260  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

tion  of  an  Istnmian  Canal  by  the  Government  of  tne 
United  States.  New  markets  are  necessary  for  the 
increasing  surplus  of  our  farm  products.  Every  effort 
should  be  made  to  open  and  obtain  new  markets,  espe- 
cially in  the  Orient,  and  the  Administration  is  warmly  to 
be  commended  for  its  successful  effort  to  commit  all 
trading  and  colonizing  nations  to  the  policy  of  the  Open 
Door  in  China." 

When  the  text  of  the  platform  was  given  to  the 
press,  a  rough  storm  was  raised  over  the  word  "  Isth- 
mian* *  in  the  Canal  plank.  The  great  majority  of  the 
newspapers  had  committed  themselves  to  the  Nica- 
raguan  route  so  unreservedly  as  to  seem  astounded  at  the 
mention  of  the  possibility  of  any  other.  It  was  not  long 
before  some  papers  attempted  to  "get  away  from  their 
mistake"  by  raising  the  cries  of  "fraud*'  and  "bribery." 

These  cries  soon  became  general  and  concerted,  and 
at  last  were  directed  unmistakably  at  ex-Congressman 
Lemuel  Quigg,  of  New  York.  He  had  acted  as  Secretary 
of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions,  and  it  had  been  his 
business  to  take  the  resolutions  as  they  were  passed, 
arrange  them  in  their  proper  order,  and  attend  to  the 
printing  of  them.  Soon  the  story  was  whispered  about 
that  opponents  of  the  Nicaragua  line  had  paid  Quigg  a 
large  sum  of  money  for  the  insertion  of  the  word  "Isth- 
mian" instead  of  the  word  "Nicaraguan"  in  the  Canal 
plank  after  the  platform  had  been  reported  by  the  Com- 
mittee on  Resolutions  to  the  Convention  of  delegates  as 
a  whole  and  had  been  by  the  Convention  read,  approved 
and  ordered  published,  and  when  correction  was  impos- 
sible. 

This  detailed  story  was  readily  believed  and  was  hav- 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  261 

ingf  a  bad  effect.  It  was  telegraphed  all  over  the 
country.  When  it  reached  Kansas  City,  where  the  Pop- 
ulists were  assembling  to  nominate  Mr.  Bryan  as  the 
Democratic  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  it  had  such  a 
virtuous  effect  on  their  political  rectitude  that  they  ran 
the  party  they  had  got  control  of  straight  into  the  grasp 
of  the  Eastern  syndicate,  'kby  fixing  their  Canal  plank 
unalterably  for  the  Nicaragua  route. 

In  Washington,  New  York  and  Philadelphia  political 
excitement  over  the  Quigg  story  was  in  no  wise  allayed 
by  all  the  denials  made  by  members  of  the  Committee 
on  Resolutions.  The  Opposition  party  papers  realized 
that  if  the  scandal  was  well  founded  it  was  a  thing  to  be 
44 worked  for  all  it  was  worth,"  and  their  correspondents 
covering  the  Convention  were  instructed  to  keep  at  the 
probe  and  exposure.  W.  E.  Curtis  at  length  agreed  to 
accommodate  a  syndicate  of  these  writers  by  using  his 
personal  acquaintance  with  various  members  of  the  com- 
mittee to  ascertain  the  real  truth.  "There  is  one  man 
on  the  committee,"  said  Curtis,  "whose  word,  one  way 
or  the  other,  will  settle  the  thing  forever.  He  is  never 
in  any 'deal,-'  never  in  the  dark,  never  in  any  kind  of 
4mix-up,'  and  is  always  fixed  to  tell  a  newspaperman 
the  exact  truth.  I'll  go  to  him. "  He  went,  and,  put- 
ting the  Committeeman  on  his  honor  and  stating  the 
case,  said,  44Is  the  story  true?" 

44 There  is  not  a  word  of  truth  in  it,"  was  the  reply. 
44 1  myself  wrote  the  Canal  plank.  I  put  the  word  'Isth- 
mian' in  it.  The  plank  as  published  is  exactly  as  I  wrote 
it,  word  for  word,  comma  for  comma,  period  for  period." 

44 There  is  nothing  in  it,  gentlemen,"  answered  Curtis, 
to  the  expectant  and  excited  group  of  reporters  awaiting 


262  MARTIN  B.   MADDEN 

him.  "M.  B.  Madden  says  he  wrote  the  plank,  'Isth- 
mian' and  all,  and  that  the  committee  and  the  Convention 
adopted  it  exactly  as  it  is  published.  That  settles  it. 
There  is  no  more  to  say. " 

Less  enlightened  journalists  elsewhere,  however,  kept 
the  scandal  up.  When  the  delegates  had  all  gone  home 
a  prominent  Republican  newspaper  in  Chicago  revived 
the  story  with  large  headlines*  in  a  first  column  article. 
In  this  Quigg  was  circumstantially  accused  of  having 
accepted  $5,000  in  cash  for  erasing  the  word  "Nicara- 
gua. "  Mr.  Madden  was  home  at  the  time,  and 
'phoned  the  editor  the  truth  and  some  light  on  the  whole 
subject.  The  reparation  Mr.  Quigg  received  was  a  sub- 
sequent editorial  in  which  it  was  argued  that  "even  if  the 
gentleman  did  receive  $5,000  for  putting  the  word  'Isth- 
mian' in  the  Canal  plank,  he  has  performed  a  very  meri- 
torious service  for  the  country ;  and  for  an  exceedingly 
trivial  sum  has  kept  the  Republican  party  out  of  a  very 
deep  and  a  very  dangerous  hole." 

Statesmen  are  fond  of  pointing  out  the  influence  of 
single  words  in  determining  the  popular  vote  in  our 
Republic.  The  accidental,  or  the  calculated,  use  of  the 
words  "Rum,  Romanism  and  Rebellion"  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Burchard,  while  describing  the  Democratic  opposi- 
tion to  Mr.  Blaine,  during  an  address  of  welcome  to  him 
at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  in  New  York,  defeated  for 
the  Presidency  the  greatest  Protectionist  this  country 
ever  had  and  elected  the  greatest  Free  Trader.  The 
insertion  of  the  word  "Gold"  in  the  financial  plank  of 
the  St.  Louis  platform  in  1896  probably  drew  more  .votes 
away  from  the  Democratic  party  to  the  organization 
which  by  the  use  of  that  word  dared  show  its  real  convic- 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  263 

tions  than  all  the  other  efforts  in  that  campaign  com- 
bined. It  was  not  easy  to  obtain  the  substitution  of  the 
word  "Isthmian"  for  that  of  "Nicaraguan"  in  the  Canal 
plank  of  the  Philadelphia  platform,  and  it  was  difficult  to 
get  the  word  "Gold"  adopted  at  St.  Louis.  The  plat- 
form use  of  the  former  word  has  had  a  great  effect  on 
public  affairs;  as  had  the  platform  use  of  the  latter, 
although  in  a  different  way. 

It  is  an  extraordinary  fact  that  both  the  words 
"Gold"  and  "Isthmian"  were  got  into  the  Republican 
platforms  by  Illinois  men,  and  that  in  the  case  of  each 
word  the  same  man  was  conspicuous  in  the  task  of  alter- 
ation. 

When  consideration  is  given  to  the  great  change  in 
public  sentiment  on  the  Inter-Oceanic  Canal  question 
during  the  few  months  elapsed  since  the  Philadelphia 
Convention,  the  adoption  of  the  word  "Isthmian"  there 
reveals  political  insight  almost  approaching  prophecy. 
The  United  States,  as  matters  now  look,  may  take 
France's  place  on  the  Isthmus,  and  thus  vastly  augment 
the  amity  between  the  two  Republics,  instead  of  becom- 
ing a  losing  rival  and  sacrificing  one  of  the  two  most 
valuable  friendships  this  nation  has  ever  had  among  the 
powers  of  the  world. 

Many  of  the  chief  managers  of  the  Republican  party 
have  said  to  the  writer  that  they  "never  could  be  thank- 
ful enough  for  the  salvation  effected  by  that  little  word 
'Isthmian. '  " 

The  Illinois  delegate  who  secured  this  "salvation, " 
when  asked  how  he  enjoyed  the  reward  of  his  virtue,  mod- 
estly turned  the  subject  aside  by  replying:  "Illinois 
desired  the  word  in  the  platform.     I  was  the  representa- 


264  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

tive  of  the  state  delegated  to  procure  the  adoption  of  the 
word.  I  simply  did  what  I  was  entrusted  to  do.  What 
is  the  representative  of  a  state  to  do  but  try  to  carry  out 
the  known  wishes  of  his  state?  He  cannot  properly  do 
anything  else." 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 


SAVES  THE   REPUBLICAN  PARTY  FROM  COMMITTING  A  BLUNDER— A 
WITTY   SPEECH. 


THE  attendance  at  the  Philadelphia  Convention  was 
greater  than  that  at  any  of  the  previous  assem- 
blages of  the  Republican  party.  When  it  became  gener- 
ally known  that  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  had  settled 
down  to  the  work  of  framing  a  declaration  of  principles 
it  was  at  once  beset  with  delegations  representing  every 
conceivable  sort  of  interest,  pleading  for  hearings.  Most 
of  these  bodies  were  sent  by  commercial  organizations  to 
secure  declarations  favoring  modifications  in  the  Spanish 
War  taxes  affecting  their  commodities.  All  of  them  were 
well  equipped  with  arguments  to  show  that  if  the  taxes 
were  not  removed  or  reduced,  business  would  be  pros- 
trated and  the  responsible  party  swept  from  power. 

The  richest  and  most  powerful  organization  of  this 
kind  that  was  able  to  compel  a  hearing  was  the  United 
States  Brewers'  Association.  This  represented  practi- 
cally all  the  beer  making  establishments  in  the  United 
States,  employing  several  hundred  thousand  voters  and 
possessing  several  hundred  million  dollars  in  capital; 
besides  the  allied  interests,  such  as  those  of  barley  rais- 
ing, hop  culture,  corn  and  rice  growing,  barrel  making, 
retail  selling,  etc.  The  Association  had  held  a  general 
congress  in  Philadelphia  in  the  April  preceding  the  Con- 
vention, had  had  several  committees  before  Congress, 

265 


266  MARTIN   B.  MADDEN 

and  at  the  Treasury  and  Internal  Revenue  Departments, 
and  had  had  its  case  powerfully  presented  in  a  full- 
page  article  in  Postmaster-General  Smith's  paper,  the 
Philadelphia  Press,  about  the  time  the  delegates  began 
to  arrive  to  attend  the  Convention. 

The  brewers  made  a  most  powerful  argument.  The 
beer  industry  during  the  Civil  War  had  submitted  cheer- 
fully to  the  imposition  of  a  tax  of  one  dollar  a  barrel. 
When  nearly  all  the  other  Civil  War  taxes  were  removed, 
the  beer  tax  was  left  untouched  and  it  still  was  collected. 
The  brewers  had  not  only  always  cheerfully  paid  it,  but 
had  so  assisted  the  Government  by  various  ingenious 
devices  for  collection  as  to  practically  make  impossible 
any  frauds  on  the  beer  revenue.  When  taxes  were  assessed 
for  the  expenses  of  the  war  against  Spain,  an  additional 
dollar  per  barrel  was  laid  on  beer,  while  two-thirds  of 
the  articles  that  had  yielded  war  revenue  during  the 
Rebellion  were  left  untaxed.  The  profit  to  the  manufac- 
turer on  a  barrel  of  beer  was  only  eight)7  cents.  The 
new  tax  compelled  the  brewers  to  make  beer  for  noth- 
ing, and  besides  pay  the  Government  twenty  cents  a 
barrel  for  the  privilege  of  doing  business,  unless  .they 
found  a  way  to  induce  the  retailers  to  be  satisfied  with 
less  in  each  barrel,  and  the  consumers  with  less  in  each 
glass.  The  brewers  were  patriotic  and  had  consented  to 
the  tax  to  help  the  Government  out  in  its  difficulty  with 
Spain.  The  Government  had  assured  them  that  the 
additional  tax  was  for  war  purposes  only  and  would  not 
be  collected  after  the  extra  financial  demands  caused  by 
the  war  should  cease.  The  war  against  Spain  had  been 
ended  now  eighteen  months,  and  the  tax  was  still  col- 
lected.     It  was  unfair  to  the  beer  industry,  which  was 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  267 

being  crippled  by  the  excessive  burden.  It  had  already 
paid  $7 1,000,000  of  the  war  expenditures  and  was  entitled 
to  relief.  Notwithstanding  the  great  prosperity  attend- 
ing every  other  business  in  the  country  there  was  general 
impending  bankruptcy  in  that  of  brewing  beer  because , 
of  the  long  continuance  of  the  excessive  war  revenue 
tax,  and  during  the  preceding  year  the  output  had  fallen 
off  more  than  one  million  barrels. 

The  argument  was  cogent  and  was  well  received,  and 
the  brewers  received  assurance  that  the  Republican 
party  would  protect  their  interest  by  a  fair  reduction  of 
taxation  as  soon  as  the  expenses  occasioned  by  the  war 
should  warrant  it. 

Then  a  movement  was  started  by  some  ill-advised 
persons  to  have  the  Brewers'  Association  attempt  to 
compel  the  Resolutions  Committee  to  insert  in  the  plat- 
form a  special  plank  in  favor  of  cheaper  beer.  Strange 
as  it  may  seem,  this  movement  became  absolutely  power- 
ful and  was  advocated  by  some  of  the  most  prominent 
men  in  the  country.  The  crisis  in  this  crusade  came  one 
day  when  a  celebrated  advocate,  arguing  in  favor  of  the 
party  declaring  officially  for  cheaper  beer,  pushed  his 
thunder  into  the  region  of  threat.  He  said  beer  was  the 
liquid  bread  of  millions  of  Americans.  Other  millions  of 
people  in  this  country  earned  their  living  in  raising  or 
producing  the  materials  that  went  into  the  composition  of 
beer.  There  were  other  millions  still  that  made  their  liv- 
ing by  selling  beer  by  the  glass,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
millions  who  drank  it  to  quench  thirst.  The  continu- 
ance of  the  tax  was  an  oppression  of  all  these  people, 
and  they  would  punish  at  the  polls  the  party  responsible 
for   it.       Beer  drinking  promoted  temperance,    as    the 


268  MARTIN   B.   MADDEN 

people  who  consumed  it  let  intoxicating  drinks  alone. 
The  continuance  of  the  extra  tax  was  hurting  the  cause 
of  temperance,  as  was  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  the  year 
just  past,  because  of  the  tax,  the  people  of  the  country 
had  drunk  one  million  barrels  less  than  they  had  used 
during  the  year  before.  Gladstone  had  been  thrown  out 
of  power  in  1885  because  to  get  money  to  pay  the  expenses 
of  the  Egyptian  War  he  had  raised  the  tax  on  beer  a  few 
pence  per  barrel.  The  present  government  in  Great 
Britain,  with  a  far  more  expensive  war  on  their  hands 
than  ours  with  Spain,  did  not  dare  to  increase  the  beer 
tax  more  than  a  few  pennies  on  the  barrel.  The  present 
Administration  had  increased  the  tax  on  beer  one  dollar 
per  barrel.  That  tax  was  retained  eighteen  months 
after  the  Spaniards  had  ceased  to  fight.  It  was  making 
the  liquid  bread  of  the  American  people  dearer;  it  was 
making  the  poor  man's  beverage  more  costly;  it  was 
hurting  the  cause  of  temperance.  If  the  party  in  power 
did  not  in  its  platform  declare  for  cheaper  beer  and  the 
abolition  of  the  extra  dollar  a  barrel,  the  $650,000,000 
invested  in  the  brewing  trade  in  the  United  States,  the 
900,000  men  employed  in  the  breweries,  and  the  entire 
German  vote  in  the  forty-five  states  would  be  thrown 
against  the  Republican  party  in  the  coming  election,  and 
it  would  be  cast  out  of  power  as  the  people's  enemy. 

The  delegate  from  Illinois  could  stand  this  no  longer. 
He  was  entertained,  he  said,  by  the  argument  that  the 
more  beer  people  drank  the  more  temperate  they 
became,  and  he  was  grieved  to  learn  that  the  250,000 
soldiers  who  had  gone  to  the  war  used  when  home  four 
barrels  of  beer  each  every  twelve  months,  their  absence 
diminishing  the  total  consumption  one  million  barrels  a 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  269 

year.  Nevertheless,  the  logic  did  not  convince  him  that 
to  remedy  the  situation  the  Republican  party  should  take 
the  proposed  beer  stand  on  its  platform.  The  party 
would  reduce  all  the  war  taxes,  including  that  on  beer, 
as  soon  as  it  could,  and  as  much  as  it  could. 

He  had  no  misgivings  about  the  German  vote ;  the 
party  would  no  doubt  be  able  to  give  this  vote  sufficient 
reasons  for  continued  adherence.  There  was  one 
important  question  he  would  like  to  ask  the  orator:  was 
he  in  favor  of  a  secret  alliance  between  the  United 
States  and  England? 

Having  Irish  blood  in  his  veins,  the  speaker  replied, 
hotly:     "No,  sir;  anything  else  but  that." 

"Would  any  of  the  gentlemen  in  your  party  be  in 
favor  of  such  an  alliance?" 

"No;  they  are  all  Germans." 

"Would  you  or  they  favor  committing  the  Republican 
party  in  the  coming  campaign  to  a  secret  alliance  with 
England?"" 

"No;  such  a  thing  would  drive  the  Republican  party 
out  of  existence." 

"How  would  it  do  that?" 

"Why,  it  would  stir  every  Irishman  and  every  Ger- 
man in  the  United  States  to  come  out  and  vote  against 
the  party  on  next  election  day." 

"Why  do  you  include  the  Germans?" 

"Because  to  a  man  they  are  opposed  to  any  secret 
alliance  .between  this  country  and  England.  On  that 
question  they  are  as  bitter  as  the  Irish  against  Eng- 
land." 

"Well,  then,  that  being  so,  why  are  you  here  urging 
tjiis  committee  to  affirm  in  its  platform  that  the   Repub-- 


270  MARTIN   B.    MADDEN 

lican  party  is  committed  to  a  secret  alliance  between  the 
White  House  and  the  Palace  of  St.  James?" 

4 'Great  heavens!  We're  not  here  for  that — we  are 
trying  to  get  the  party  to  officially  declare  for  cheap 
beer,  for  an  abolition  of  the  extra  dollar  a  barrel  tax, 
for " 

44 Just  vSo;  you  are  trying  to  get  this  committee  to 
affirm  before  the  world  that  there  is  a  sort  of  secret  alli- 
ance between  the  American  Government,  as  it  is  carried 
on  by  the '  Republican  party,  and  England.  You  are 
aware  that  our  political  enemies  are  cultivating  a  suspi- 
cion that  such  an  alliance  exists.  You  know  that  this 
suspicion,  which  has  no  just  foundation,  is  injurious  to 
the  Republican  party.  And  yet  you  come  here  and  ask 
us  to  increase  the  injury  by  making  an  official  declaration 
which  will  be  everywhere  construed  as  an  affirmation 
that  the  suspicion  is  well  founded. 

44 The  English,  according  to  your  own  argument,  are 
now  paying  the  greater  part  of  the  Spanish  War  taxes. 
You  ask  the  Republican  party  to  commit  itself  to  the 
abolition  of  those  taxes  the  English  are  paying  so  that 
the  world  may  believe  there  is  an  alliance  which  compels 
us  to  give  the  Britons  an  advantage  over  other  tax-payers 
in  American  trade  in  return  for  their  neutrality  during 
the  war.  You  know  that  to  select  the  beer  tax  for  spe- 
cial reduction  would  be  to  reduce  the  revenue  English- 
men are  now  paying  toward  the  support  of  this  Govern 
ment,  for  nearly  all  the  breweries  are  at  present  con- 
trolled by  syndicates  owned  by  Englishmen.  I  am 
amazed. ' ' 

The  orator  had  been  unable  during  this  series  of 
retorts  to  understand  the  gleam  in  Madden's  eyes,  but 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  271 

the  end  of  the  speech  struck  him  like  a  thunderbolt.  He 
had  been  swelling  up  with  speechless  indignation,  but  now 
he  suddenly  collapsed,  taking  relief  in  the  one  word, 
"Gawd!"  and  vanished,  never  to  return.  That  ended 
the  argument  for  beer. 

It  is  fairly  claimed  by  Mr.  Madden's  intimates  that 
he  is  a  master  artist  in  the  use  of  short  speech.  Whether 
he  can  be  cleverer  in  lucid  brevity  than  he  is  in  cogent 
dalliance  with  persons  slow  to  perceive  may  be  justly 
questioned.  Whatever  surpassed  the  above  specimen  of 
"long  lining?" 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


PLANS    THE    REPUBLICAN    CAMPAIGN    FOR    T90O— NEW    SILVER 
EXPANSION  ARGUMENT. 


WHEN  the  Illinois  delegates  to  the  Philadelphia  Con- 
vention reached  home  they  were  received  with 
enthusiasm  and  complimented  upon  the  manner  in  which 
they  had  kept  the  state  to  the  fore  in  the  national  pro- 
gramme. Mr.  Madden's  work  in  the  Committee  on  Res- 
olutions, especially  that  in  which  he  had  secured  recog- 
nition of  labor,  neutrality  as  to  the  canal  route,  and  the 
declaration  favoring  the  establishment  of  small  national 
banks  to  afford  increased  circulation  of  money  in  the 
agricultural  regions  of  the  West,  was  applauded  as  the 
chief  accomplishment  in  the  platform.  He  was  at  once 
singled  out  to  indicate  the  line  of  campaign  management 
best  to  pursue. 

He  promptly  advocated  the  discussion  of  three  issues: 
Expansion,  Sound  Money  and  Protective  Tariff.  It  was 
suggested  that  it  might  be  difficult  to  urge  anything  new 
on  either  the  money  or  tariff  questions.  On  the  con- 
trary, he  answered,  both  issues  had  entirely  new  features 
and  were  more  important  than  ever.  The  tremendous 
revival  of  prosperity  which  had  followed  McKinley's 
election,  owing  to  the  restoration  of  confidence  that 
American  money  would  be  gold  and  that  American 
investments  in  all  lines  of  business  would  be  amply  pro- 
tected from  unfair  foreign  competition,  had  established 

272 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  273 

beyond  further  dispute  that  Protection  as  a  national  pol- 
icy was  the  best.  In  less  than  four  years  it  had  not  only 
set  every  idle  man  in  the  country  to  work  at  high  wages 
and  enabled  them  to  furnish  a  market  and  pay  higher 
prices  for  the  farm  products  of  the  West,  but  had  placed 
the  United  States  at  the  very  head  of  the  list  of  exporting 
nations,  turning  the  balance  of  trade  in  our  favor,  and 
making  of  us  a  lending  instead  of  a  borrowing  people. 
We  had  now,  however,  to  meet  a  new  difficulty,  and  one 
more  serious  than  any  we  had  yet  encountered.  That 
was  the  coming  Chinese  competition.  China  was  prepar- 
ing to  modernize  and  go  into  trade  as  a  competitor 
against  Christendom  for  the  manufacturing  trade  of  the 
world.  The  competition  of  Europe,  which  Protection  had 
enabled  us  to  meet  and  overcome,  was  insignificant  when 
compared  to  the  possibilities  of  the  threatened  rivalry 
of  China.  The  conditions  in  the  Celestial  Empire  were 
ideal  for  the  change:  inexhaustible  quantities  of  raw 
material,  a  homogeneous  population  of  skilled  laborers 
of  great  intelligence,  industry  and  frugality,  and  a  gen- 
eral conviction  that  it  would  pay  them,  numbering  nearly 
half  the  human  race,  to  quit  farming  an  over-cultivated 
land  and  buy  their  food  with  money  obtained  by  manufac- 
turing. Until  we  knew  just  what  we  were  to  encounter 
from  Oriental  competition,  it  would  be  wise  to  cherish 
our  Protective  policy  and  to  yield  nothing  of  it  except  on 
the  lines  of  reciprocity,  where  that  might  help  the  exten- 
sion of  our  trade  in  Europe. 

Bryan's  nomination  was  certain.  That  would  compel 
another  discussion  of  the  money  question.  In  this  the 
Republicans  would  have  all  the  advantage.  Bryan  could 
offer   nothing  new,   and  most  of  what  he  had    already 

18 


274  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

said  was  contradicted  by  the  events  of  the  past  four  years. 
Prices  of  agricultural  products  had  risen  without  the  aid 
of  free  coinage  of  silver,  which  he  had  claimed  was 
necessary  to  any  enhancement  of  values;  idleness  had 
disappeared,  in  the  face  of  his  contention  that  it  would 
increase  unless  free  coinage  was  restored ;  and  the  cir- 
culation of  money  had  been  vastly  enlarged  while  the 
price  of  it  had  fallen,  contrary  to  the  Populist's  argument 
that  interest  would  rise  to  the  enslaving  point  and  circu- 
lation decrease  to  that  of  bankruptcy  if  the  Gold  Standard 
was  adopted. 

While  Bryan  would  be  reduced  to  dealing  in  discred- 
ited "chestnuts,"  as  his  own  tired  followers  were  call- 
ing his  platitudes,  the  management  of  the  Republican 
party  had  developed  a  situation  that  made  probable  a 
real  solution  of  the  silver  problem.  It  was  extraordinary, 
too,  that  whilst  the  party  in  power  had  committed  itself 
to  conditions  which  made  the  solution  possible,  Bryan 
had  pledged  himself  to  a  policy  exactly  calculated  to 
deprive  silver  of  the  best  chance  it  had  of  regaining  full 
rehabilitation  in  value.  The  modernizing  of  China 
depended  upon  the  maintenance  of  the  integrity  of  the 
empire.  Our  acquisition  of  the  Philippines  had  made 
of  us  an  Oriental  power.  We  were  now  a  neighbor  of 
China,  owning  "adjoining  lots."  Our  main  interest  in 
the  country  was  that  of  trade,  that  of  the  open  door. 
No  power  as  far  away  as  Europe  would  think  of  closing 
any  Celestial  door  to  us  so  long  as  we  remained  in  the 
Philippines.  Our  stay  there  meant  the  preservation  of 
the  integrity  of  China,  and,  therefore,  its  modernization. 
The  Republican  party  had  resolved  to  remain. 

The  resolution  had  been  taken   for  purely  patriotic 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  275 

reasons  and  was  subject  to  overthrow  by  a  popular  vote. 
If  the  American  people  had  been  warned  by  any  reput- 
able statesman  that  war  with  Spain  would  result  in 
occupation  of  the  Philippines,  that  undesired  result  would 
unquestionably  have  prevented  declaration  of  war.  The 
war  was  waged  for  high-minded  and  entirely  disinter- 
ested purposes,  in  none  of  which  did  the  Oriental  ques- 
tion in  any  shape  even  suggest  itself.  When  the  fortune 
of  war  compelled  the  Union  to  go  to  Manila,  it  trans- 
pired there,  though  unthought  of  before,  that  to  leave 
might  be  disastrous.  The  flag  was  carried  there  because 
it  had  to  go.  When  there  it  became  necessary  to  raise 
it,  and  then  no  good  reason  could  be  found  by  those  who 
put  it  up  for  taking  it  down. 

When  China  modernized,  Mr.  Madden  went  on,  she 
would  require  a  vast  amount  of  money,  more  than  all  the 
rest  of  the  world  together.  Her  people  practically  dealt 
in  cash  with  one  another.  They  had  reduced  the  art  of 
living  on  the  least  possible  to  such  a  low  standard  that 
for  the  ordinary  purchases  of  everyday  life  they  used 
coins  of  so  small  a  denomination  that  an  American  silver 
dollar  would  in  some  parts  of  the  country  bring  2,500  of 
them.  The  number  of  these  little  coins  given  in  the 
exchange  represented  exactly  the  number  of  parts  into 
which  the  people  could  clip  the  metallic  dollar  acceptable 
as  standard  money  in  exchange.  Gold  was  not  suffi- 
ciently divisible  for  general  use  as  standard  money  in  a 
country  like  that.  Silver  was.  Hence,  silver  was  the 
standard  money  now  in  u^e  by  the  Chinese  and  probably 
always  would  be.  Wages  would  no  doubt  rise  in  that 
country  after  its  modernization,  but  it  was  hardly  pos- 
sible they  ever  would  get  sufficiently  high  to  permit  the 


276  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

general  use  of  gold  as  standard  money.  Silver  would, 
therefore,  remain  the  common  standard  coin  of  the 
Chinese.  When  their  nation  should  be  modernized  thor- 
oughly the  increased  demand  for  standard  money  in  that 
country  would  be  so  enormous  that  it  would  trouble  the 
world  to  yield  enough  precious  metal  to  meet  it,  and  that 
natural  demand  would  open  every  silver  mine  capable  of 
yielding  an  ounce  and  raise  the  value  of  silver  perhaps 
even  above  the  price  of  '73. 

The  retention  of  the  Philippines,  then,  would  solve 
the  Silver  question,  solve  it  forever,  and  solve  it  for  the 
American  producer  in  a  more  satisfactory  way  than  any 
before  proposed.  But  Bryan,  who  neither  understood 
the  Silver  question  nor  the  question  of  locating  the  Amer- 
ican flag,  was  opposed  to  the  retention  of  the  Philippines. 
He  was  committed  to  their  abandonment  in  case  he  got 
to  the  White  House  as  Presidential  occupant.  The  Sil- 
ver men  of  the  country,  Mr.  Madden  thought,  would  see 
to  it  that  the  greatest  living  enemy  of  American  silver 
would  retain  his  residence  in  Nebraska,  where  he  would 
be  unable  to  interfere  with  the  integrity  of  China  and 
our  market  there  for  the  white  metal. 

Expansion,  Mr.  Madden  contended,  would  be  the 
most  interesting  theme  in  the  campaign.  §  It  was  a  Dem- 
ocratic policy  and  would  be  inspiring  to  those  Democrats 
who  had  helped  the  Republicans  elect  McKinley  to  his 
first  term.  It  would  induce  them  to  support  him  again. 
Their  conduct  in  1896  had  been  especially  high-minded 
and  patriotic.  Their  party  was  older  than  the  Republi- 
can, had  more  traditions,  had  put  more  laws  on  the 
statute  books,  had  produced  a  larger  number  of  public 
men.     It  had  conducted  the  affairs  of  the  Republic  for  a 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  277 

longer  time  and  had  inspired  a  noble  loyalty  exceedingly 
difficult  to  break  away  from.  Yet  these  men,  from  pure 
principle  and  love  of  the  country's  honor  and  good  name, 
had  torn  themselves  away  from  old  political  affiliations 
and  given  the  Republican  candidate  a  sufficient  suffrage 
to  defeat  their  own  nominee.  This  magnificent  mani- 
festation of  patriotism  had  startled  the  world  by  exhibit- 
ing the  enduring  character  of  American  institutions  and 
had  inspired  McKinley's  administration  with  breadth 
and  statesmanship.  These  loyal  Democrats  were  proud 
of  their  work  in  1896  and  anxious  to  repeat  it,  for  they 
had  the  satisfactory  reward  of  seeing  a  Republican 
administration  carrying  out  Democratic  policies  for  the 
country's  development.  Thousands  of  Democrats  who 
had  abandoned  their  party  in  1896  but  had  refrained  from 
voting,  would  now  support  McKinley  because  he  "was  a 
better  Democrat  than  Bryan." 

The  argument  for  Expansion,  as  presented  by  the 
Republicans,  Mr.  Madden  pointed  out,  had  so  many 
extraordinary  phases  of  patriotic  as  well  as  material 
interest  for  the  country  as  a  whole,  and  for  particular 
localities,  especially  for  Illinois  and  Chicago,  that  Bryan's 
opposition  to  it  looked  like  an  act  of  Providence  devised 
to  arouse  the  American  people  to  array  themselves 
solidly  before  the  world  on  a  question  of  international 
justice,  for  future  effect  on  mankind.  This  attitude 
would  produce  the  largest  majority  in  favor  of  Expansion 
ever  given  in  the  country  for  any  national  policy. 

A  consideration  of  some  of  the  conditions  that  com- 
pelled the  Americans  to  remain  in  the  Philippines  after 
they  went  there  on  a  simple  naval  expedition  would  make 
this  manifest.     Dewey  had  been  ordered  to  overtake  and 


278  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

destroy  the  Spanish  fleet  in  the  Pacific.  Ascertaining 
that  it  was  at  Manila  he  went  there  to  carry  out  the 
order.  After  he  had  "overtaken  and  destroyed,"  the 
Spaniards  practically  surrendered  to  him  the  Archipelago. 
Then  some  foreign  fleets  appeared.  It  was  at  first  sus- 
pected they  had  followed  our  ships  for  unfriendly  pur- 
poses. ;  When  this  suspicion  was  found  unjust,  their 
presence  still  remained  unexplained  until  our  Government 
learned  what  had  been  going  on  in  China.  The  Govern- 
ment of  that  country  some  time  before  had  discovered, 
in  an  effort  to  take  a  census  of  its  population,  that  it  had 
reached  a  point  in  numbers  where  it  exceeded  the  ability 
of  the  land  longer  to  feed  it.  Then  began  the  effort  to 
find  a  solution  of  the  awful  national  trouble.  The  one 
Li  Hung  Chang  had  determined  to  try  was  to  modernize 
the  country,  put  it  to  work  utilizing  its  vast  natural  min- 
eral resources  in  manufacture,  and  buy  its  food  instead 
of  longer  attempting  to  obtain  it  from  the  exhausted 
ground.  What  made  the  change  more  imperative  was 
the  additional  discovery  that  the  rice  of  the  country,  the 
main  food  of  the  immense  population,  had  begun  to 
rapidly  deteriorate  in  nutriment  as  a  result  of  the  long 
continued  in-breeding  of  centuries.  The  Chinese  states- 
men carrying  on  the  paternal  government  of  the  coun- 
try, after  exhaustive  study,  had  concluded  to  effect  the 
substitution  of  flour,  and  had  surveyed  the  wheat  lands 
of  the  whole  world,  seeking  a  source  of  supply.  They 
had  concluded  that  the  lands  of  the  United  States,  if  all 
brought  into  cultivation,  would  about  produce  sufficient 
wheat  for  China's  impending  wants.  These  hard-headed 
pagans  never  thought  of  calculating  upon  any  other  plan 
of  bringing  about  the  substitution  of  flour  for  rice  among 


PUBLIC   SERVANT  279 

their  famishing  countrymen  than  the  natural  one  of  the 
law  of  supply  and  demand.  They  knew  that  once 
China's  policy  was  decided  upon  and  made  known  to 
the  world,  lands  capable  of  producing  wheat  would  be 
brought  into  cultivation  just  as  rapidly  as  the  demand 
for  thefr  product  called  for  it.  The  rice  would  not  at 
once  disappear.  If  it  should  the  Chinese  race  would  dis- 
appear from  the  earth,  as  the  world  could  not  produce 
in  a  season  the  additional  2,800,000,000  bushels  of  wheat 
it  would  take  to  keep  the  people  of  China  alive.  How- 
ever rapidly  the  rice  might  fail,  so  long  as  it  did  not  fail 
altogether  in  a  few  seasons,  flour  would  be  produced 
sufficiently  to  take  its  place,  even  if  that  result  had  to  be 
obtained  by  public  opinion  forcing  the  American  Govern- 
ment to  use  its  rich  treasury  to  quickly  water  the  rich 
volcanic  soil  in  the  West. 

China  was  unobtrusive  and  did  not  take  the  world 
much  into  confidence.  But  many  other  nations  main- 
tained agents  in  friendly  territory,  and  their  business  was 
to  keep  their  home  governments  apprised  of  what  was 
going  on.  By  such  means  various  powers  had  learned 
of  the  arranging  revolution  in  China,  a  thing  that  was 
bound  to  upset  the  whole  world,  dislodge  all  established 
calculations  and  make  of  that  territory  that  furnished  the 
Chinese  their  new  food  the  richest  land  Christendom  had 
ever  imagined.  Then  there  was  a  scurrying  to  get 
shares  in  the  new  deal.  As  if  by  concert  certain  powers 
appeared  on  Chinese  territory  and  there  were  rumors  of 
a  division,  of  the  taking  of  ports  for  the  control  of  trade, 
of  spheres  of  influence,  and  of  many  other  similar  things. 

The  United  States  was  not  in  the  thing  at  all,  didn't 
seem  even  to  know  what  was  going  on  or  what  the  fuss  in 


280  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

China  was  about.  When  it  was  agreed  what  part  of 
Kwang-Su's  empire  each  Christian  country  was  to  take, 
the  trespassers  thought  it  necessary  to  secure  bases  of 
operation  near  by.  The  Chinese  might  resist,  other 
nations  might  interfere  with  the  plan  of  dismemberment 
and  occupation.  Japan  had  secured  Formosa  and  Eng- 
land had  Hong-Kong.  No  available  base  was  left  but  the 
Philippine  Archipelago.  That  belonged  to  Spain. 
Rumors  began  to  obtain  currency  that  negotiations  had 
been  opened  with  Spain  for  the  purchase  of  the  Philip- 
pines by  one  or  more  of  the  powers  mixed  up  in  the  con- 
templated spoliation  of  China. 

Just  at  this  critical  time  Dewey  arrived  upon  the 
scene.  When  he  found  that  the  fleets  hovering  about 
him  meant  no  harm  to  him,  a  search  was  made  for  the 
reason  of  their  presence.  It  gradually  leaked  out  that  the 
powers  thought  America  didn't  want  the  islands.  Nor  did 
it.  The  powers  also  believed  Dewey  would  abandon  them 
and  then  they  would  be  left  to  appropriation,  Spain  having 
deserted  them.  It  was  not  strange  that  the  Administra- 
tion at  Washington  took  it  into  its  head  to  inquire  into 
the  whole  matter  to  find  out  just  why  these  powers  were 
so  anxious  to  obtain  islands  that  had  no  apparent  value 
to  us.  Such  an  inquiry  did  not  have  to  be  pushed  far 
before  it  brought  its  followers  right  into  the  heart  of  the 
whole  Chinese  question,  the  largest  one  in  the  world. 
Now  then,  when  the  inquirers  saw  that  if  China  were 
let  alone  and  permitted  to  work  out  her  own  destiny,  the 
result  would  be  a  greater  trade  upon  the  Pacific  than  the 
Atlantic  ever  saw;  large  cities  on  our  western  coast, 
centers  for  a  denser  population  there  than  now  inhabited 
the  eastern  shore;  every  acre  of  tillable  land  in  the  vast 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  281 

region  between  the  Mississippi  and  Puget  Sound  farmed 
to  raise  food  for  China:  millions  of  dollars  invested  in 
transcontinental  railroads  for  every  thousand  then — what 
would  they  suggest,  what  would  they  advise?  Espe- 
cially, when  it  was  plain  that  if  China  were  torn  apart,  our 
West  would  remain  in  slow  development?  To  let  the 
Philippines  go  meant  the  latter.  To  hold  them  meant 
the  former.  It  seemed  to  be  a  case  of  special  interfer- 
ence by  Providence.  His  yellow  children  in  China  were 
hungry  and  had  obeyed  the  Divine  law  of  increase  until 
they  now  had  not  enough  land  to  yield  them  food.  His 
white  children  in  America  had  land  to  spare  for  that.  The 
President  was  a  Christian  and  naturally  inclined  to  say: 
Providence  desired  the  Americans  to  feed  the  Chinese. 
Therefore  He  had  prevented  the  would-be-dismemberers 
of  that  empire  from  obtaining  the  base  needed  to  carry 
out  their  design  and  had  led  us  into  the  possession  of  it. 
With  that  feeling  in  his  heart,  what  was  the  President's 
duty?  Well,  he  ordered  the  American  flag  raised  over 
the  Philippines  and  commanded  that  it  be  kept  there 
until  his  countrymen  should  pass  upon  the  whole  ques- 
tion 6*f  retention  or  rejection  by  popular  vote.  The  flag 
was  still  up  and  so  would  remain  if  the  majority  favored 
having  the  United  States  feed  China  and  the  West  hav- 
ing its  opportunity  for  symmetrical  development  with 
the  rest  of  the  land.  It  would  come  down,  the  powers 
have  the  islands  donated  to  them  as  a  base  for  China's 
dismemberment,  and  America  remain  half  desert  if 
Bryan  won.  Mr.  Madden  had  no  doubt  about  what  the 
West  would  do  on  such  a  proposition,  nor  any  misgiving 
at  all  about  the  attitude  Illinois  would  take. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


MAKES   THE    BEST   PUBLIC    STATEMENT   ON   TRUSTS — PROPOSES   THE 
BEST    SOLUTION. 


IV IO  public  question  has  arisen  in  American  affairs  dur- 
I  i  ing  the  past  ten  years  that  has  aroused  so  much 
discussion  as  that  of  Trusts.  It  has  been  a  porcupiny 
subject  to  most  of  our  public  men,  the  majority  of  whom 
lead  professional  lives  and  possess  as  a  rule  theoretical 
knowledge  only  of  trade  questions.  If  our  legislatures 
had  been  composed  more  largely  of  experienced  business 
men  the  trust  question  would  long  ago  have  received 
courageous  and  intelligent  treatment,  and  perhaps  now 
be  settled  satisfactorily,  at  least  so  far  as  such  a  question 
can  be  settled  by  law. 

During  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1900  the  people 
in  many  states,  and  those  of  Illinois  especially,  irrespec- 
tive of  party,  gave  many  evidences  of  a  wish  to  have  the 
question  of  trusts  discussed  on  the  stump.  WUh  one 
exception,  no  public  speaker  on  either  side  undertook 
to  make  the  desired  exposition.  Mr.  Bethea,  the  United 
States  District  Attorney  in  Illinois,  who  had  given  the 
subject  -much  study,  urged  every  prominent  orator  who 
filled  an  engagement  in  his  territory  during  that  cam- 
paign to  devote  some  time  in  his  speech  to  the  trust 
problem.  Not  one  of  them  complied  until  Mr.  Madden 
was  advertised  to  make  an  address.  He  was  a  large 
employer  of  labor  and  the  President  and  Manager  of  one 

282 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  283 

of  the  greatest  business  combinations  in  the  state,  an 
enterprise  which  at  that  time  was  operating  no  less  than 
twelve  consolidated  companies.  It  was  thought  that  he 
knew  all  about  trusts  and  could  thoroughly  explain  their 
composition  and  methods,  as  well  as  indicate  their  dan- 
gerous or  beneficial  tendencies.  He  did  not  hesitate  at 
all  in  accepting  Mr.  Bethea's  invitation  and  agreed  to 
devote  his  whole  speech  to  the  subject.  This  agreement 
was  extensively  advertised  and  brought  in  a  large  audi- 
ence of  interested  and  critical  people.  Mr.  Madden  kept 
his  word,  stated  the  whole  question  clearly  and  com- 
pletely, and  gave,  what  had  not  yet  been  done  and  what 
has  not  been  done  by  any  other  public  man,  a  rational, 
fair  and  effective  solution  of  the  whole  trust  trouble. 

Pn  the  beginning,  Mr.  Madden  pointed  out  the  con- 
stitutional limits  of  legal  interference  with  the  free  em- 
ployment of  capital.  If  a  man,  or  a  number  of  men,  put 
any  amount  of  money  into  a  private  business  requiring 
and  getting  no  public  favors,  they  could  not  be  restrained 
from  letting  their  profits  be  added  to  their  capital,  nor 
from  increasing  it  personally  in  any  other  honest  way,  no 
matter  how  large  it  oecame.  It  was  only  where  capital 
operated  in  a  corporate  way,  under  some  charter,  or 
franchise,  or  public  permission,  that  the  law  could  be 
invoked  to  interfere.  Then  the  interference  would  have 
to  be  confined  to  preventing  the  use  of  the  capital  for  any 
other  purpose  than  that  plainly  or  impliedly  expressed 
in  the  grant  of  incorporation.  In  all  such  cases  the 
remedy  was  either  by  revocation  of  the  act  permitting 
the  incorporation  or  by  other  corrective  local  legislation 
or  litigation.  No  political  remedy  could  be  applied. 
Where  the  legal  redress,  which  usually  was  ample,  was 


284  MAkTIN  B.  MADDEN 

not  correctively  used,  the  fault  lay  in  either  the  apathy, 
the  ignorance  or  the  infidelity  of  the  legislative  or  law 
officers  of  the  injured  locality.  The  people  living  there 
could  by  suffrage  eject  them  from  office  and  substitute 
other  officials  to  properly  restrain  or  destroy  the  offend- 
ing corporations. 

The  speaker  was  of  the  opinion,  however,  that  it  was 
not  these  ' "reachable"  corporations  the  people  were 
alarmed  about,  but  that  the  public  concern  was  princi- 
pally, if  not  altogether,  regarding  the  tendency  toward 
those  vast  combinations  of  capital  which  operated  all 
over  the  country  with  a  view  toward  monopolizing  the 
handling  of  things  of  universal  use  and  the  control  of  the 
labor  necessary  to  both  produce  them  and  distribute  them 
after  they  were  made.  It  was  feared  corporate  control 
of  production  and  distribution  might  enslave  labor  as 
well  as  rob  the  public  of  its  independence.  To  that 
phase  of  the  problem  he  would  devote  his  remarks  and 
apply  the  remedy  he  was  ready  to  propose. 

It  had  not  become  a  purely  party  problem  because  no 
alignment  was  possible  on  it  that  would  include  all  the 
Democrats  on  one  side  and  all  the  Republicans  on  the 
other  by  either  personal  or  political  bias  or  interest. 
The  trust  stocks  were  held  indiscriminately  by  members 
of  both  parties,  and  had  been,  and  were  still,  purchased 
solely  as  business  and  financial  investments  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  money.  They  afforded  about  the  most 
inviting  field  for  the  risk  of  large  capital  in  this  country, 
and  the  prospects  were  that  they  would  continue  to  be  so 
attractive  for  the  many  years  the  United  States  had 
before  them  the  assured  development  of  their  enormous 
natural  advantages.     These  were  yet  in  the  initial  stages 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  285 

of  utilization  and  sufficient  altogether  to  put  the  country 
in  mastery,  of  the  trade  of  the  present  civilized  world  and 
maintain  it  in  that  supremacy  for  a  long  period,  if  not 
for  all  time.  As  the  world  stood,  the  territory  of  the 
American  Union  was  the  only  large  region  that  could 
supply  its  own  people  with  all  necessary  food  and  man- 
ufactures and  have  surpluses  of  both  to  sell.  All  other 
countries  had  to  buy  either  food  or  manufactures;  this 
alone  needed  not  to  buy  either,  and  could  sell  both. 
After  supplying  its  own  needs,  it  could  furnish  all  of 
Europe  with  manufactured  goods;  after  feeding  its  own 
people,  it  could  assure  the  people  of  Europe  all  the  food 
they  wanted,  for  less  than  they  could  raise  it  themselves. 
In  one  year  after  the  political  economists  had  concluded 
that  the  world  had  reached  the  limit  of  wheat  produc- 
tion, the  United  States  had  increased  their  yield  nearly 
300,000,000  bushels;  and  did  so  without  bringing  into  cul- 
tivation more  than  a  mere  fraction  of  their  irrigable 
lands. 

The  immense  increase  of  American  trusts  recently 
noticed  with  alarm  had  followed  and  been  stimulated  by 
the  growth  of  the  nation's  foreign  trade  and  had  been 
the  principal  instrumentality  in  its  development,  either 
in  the  work  of  transporting  agricultural  products  by  land 
and  water  or  the  handling  of  our  iron  and  steel  output. 
It  would,  therefore,  be  found  impossible  to  interfere, 
wisely  or  unwisely,  in  the  growth  or  management  of 
trusts  without  affecting  favorably  or  injuriously  the 
growth  and  development  of  our  foreign  trade.  On  the 
other  hand,  however,  because  of  this  very  general  oper- 
ation of  trust  capital  and  of  the  national  character  of  its 
influence   for  good  or  evil,   the  question  of  regulation 


286  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

became  easier,  as  it  placed  that  within  Federal  supervision 
and  subject  to  popular  vote.  So  long  as  a  trust  operated 
within  a  .  single  state,  Washington  could  not  very  well 
interfere;  but  when  its  work  became  general  in  effect 
upon  national  industry  or  interest,  the  voters  could  reach 
it  and  the  Government  would  be  forced  to  regulate  its 
management.  The  tendency  was  towards  general  oper- 
ation, and  Federal  regulation  was  becoming  imminent. 
This  could  not  very  well  be  partisan,  because  trust  evils 
were  not  of  party  production.  The  factors  that  would 
control  the  settlement  were  two — the  interest  of  labor 
and  the  welfare  of  the  consumer. 

The  workingmen  of  the  country  were  especially  intel- 
ligent on  all  public  matters  affecting  their  own  welfare. 
What  they  most  desired  was  steady  employment  at  fair 
wages.  They  knew  that  reduction  in  the  mechanical 
cost  of  production  increased  employment  by  enlarging 
demand  for  the  things  made,  and  perceived  plainly  that 
aggregations  of  capital  effected  this  more  than  any  other 
instrumentality.  The  smaller  employer  often  closed  his 
factory  when  improved  machinery  was  beyond  his  means. 
That  brought  idleness  to  his  men.  The  richer  employer, 
who  could  afford  to  substitute  the  improved  methods, 
kept  on  and  continued  paying  wages.  The  larger  the 
capital  the  employer  had  the  less  danger  there  was  of 
stoppage  of  work,  and  the  better  the  prospect  of  increased 
wages  through  augmented  consumption.  Even  where  the 
question  was  not  one  of  employing  better  methods,  large 
capital  was  more  likely  to  keep  a  mill  running  than  small 
capital  would  be,  because  less  disposed  to  hazard  the  loss 
in  the  plant  entailed  by  disuse.  A  combination,  no  mat- 
ter under  what  name,  operating  many  mills  in  different 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  287 

localities,  was  more  apt  to  keep  them  all  running  all  the 
time  than  individual  ownership  would  be,  and  less  prone 
to  lessen  employment  in  dull  times.  In  fact,  the  combi- 
nation, through  its  ability  to  reduce  managerial  ex- 
penses, would  not  require  as  great  .profits  in  the  aggre- 
gate to  meet  dividends  as  would  several  different  compa- 
nies doing  the  same  amount  of  work;  and  could  run  with 
profit  even  in  conditions  that  would  be  losing  to  the  com- 
panies. Several  organizations  owning  separately  several 
lines  of  railway  that,  connected,  would  form  a  continuous 
road,  could  not  give  as  good  through  service  for  the  same 
price  as  could  one  corporation  operating  the  same  routes 
as  one,  nor  could  they  afford  employment  for  as  many 
hands  or  keep  the  same  number  as  steadily  engaged, 
because  less  able  to  reduce  rates  and  so  attract  business. 
The  laboring  men  of  the  country  understood  all  this 
better  than  the  general  public. 

In  manufacturing,  the  ability  of  the  country  was  now 
two-fifths  greater  than  its  consumption.  With  all  the 
factories  running,  the  United  States  would  now  produce 
exactly  forty  per  cent,  more  than  it  could  consume  at 
home.  If  American  manufacturing  were  limited  to  the 
home  market,  therefore,  it  would  have  to  curtail  employ- 
ment forty  per  cent;  throw  400  men  out  of  work  of  every 
1,000  now  employed.  The  only  present  possible  method 
of  keeping  all  the  men  at  work  was  to  find  foreign 
markets  for  two-fifths  of  our  manufactures.  The  labor- 
ing men  of  the  country  had  a  vital  interest  in  the  reten- 
tion and  expansion  of  our  foreign  trade0  They  knew  that 
it  could  be  both  held  and  increased  by  great  aggrega- 
tions of  capital  only.  To  sell  in  the  Old  World  was  an 
entirely  different   thing  from  selling  at  home.     There 


288  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

payments  were  much  slower,  and  capital  must  be  able  to 
wait  for  its  pay.  Vast  amounts  of  goods  must  be  kept 
always  in  great  storehouses  awaiting  orders  and  armies  of 
agents  maintained  to  seek  outlets  for  the  storage.  Small 
companies  could  not  do  this,  nor  could  any  combination 
of  small  concerns  do  it  as  well  as  the  vast  aggregations  of 
capital  now  engaged  in  it  They  alone  could  afford  the 
two  enormous  risks  involved — that  of  money  tied  up  in 
goods  not  moving,  and  of  selling  either  without  profit  or 
at  a  loss.  It  was  no  doubt  true  that  American  goods 
were  often  sold  abroad  for  less  than  at  home.  The  man- 
ufacturers had  no  leaning  towards  trade  of  that  kind,  but 
were  often  compelled  to  get  rid  of  surplus  stock  at  a  loss 
in  that  way.  In  some  cases  they  could  afford  to  sell  their 
surpluses  abroad  without  profit,  being  ahead  on  the  home 
trade ;  in  others  it  might  be  wise  for  them  to  sell  at  a 
loss,  even  to  great  diminution  of  their  domestic  divi- 
dends. So  long  as  they  made  surpluses  and  found 
markets  for  them,  they  kept  their  factories  open  and 
their  men  employed.  This  was  the  main  fact  to  the 
American  workingman.  It  would  be  difficult  to  induce 
him  to  antagonize  the  formation  of  the  gigantic  combina- 
tions of  capital  that  alone  made  the  sales  abroad  possible. 
Calling  them  trusts,  the  laboring  man  would  say,  did 
not  make  the  result  to  him  any  less  beneficial. 

The  consumer,  though,  might  naturally  take  a  differ- 
ent view  of  the  matter.  What  he  wanted  was  cheap 
goods.  He  would  resent  paying  more  than  the  for- 
eigner, no  matter  what  argument  should  be  brought 
forward.  It  would  be  hard  to  convince  him  that  a 
trust  was  philanthropic  and  took  the  risk  of  finding  for- 
eign markets  merely  for  the  purpose  of  continuing  its  men 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  289 

in  employment.  He  would  not  even  believe  in  the  rea- 
soning that  trusts  would  rather  meet  the  loss  risked  in 
foreign  markets  than  that  involved  in  stopping  work, 
with  its  consequent  deterioration  in  plant,  difficulty  in 
resuming,  and  impossibility  of  at  once  taking  good  orders 
that  might  suddenly  develop.  He  would,  of  course,  be 
glad  to  have  anything  done  that  would  assure  constant 
work  and  good  wages  to  domestic  workingmen,  as  the 
whole  body  of  them  spent  most  of  what  they  earned 
immediately  after  receiving  it,  and  that  put  money  into 
circulation  and  made  times  good.  Nevertheless,  the 
consumer  would  object  to  having  that  done  at  his 
expense,  as  it  would  seem  to  be  so  long  as  he  could  not 
understand  entirely  why  he  paid  more  for  what  he  had  to 
buy  than  foreigners  three  thousand  miles  away  did  for 
the  same  things  turned  out  of  the  same  shops.  He  would 
see  in  the  whole  business  a  sort  of  natural  partnership 
between  labor  and  capital,  the  one  interested  in  the 
other,  and  both  interested  in  high  prices  at  home. 

What  would  most  affect  his  opposition  to  trusts  would 
be  the  vast  amount  of  visible  water  in  their  stocks. 
Upon  this  interest  would  have  to  be  obtained  by  the 
managers.  They  would  get  it  by  keeping  up  prices. 
"  Before  the  formation  of  trusts  he  could  see  that  prices 
were,  as  a  rule,  rather  fairly  based  on  the  cost  of  pro- 
duction. He  then  had  no  sound  reason  against  paying 
them.  But  when  the  cost  of  production  had  palpably 
been  reduced  by  consolidation  of  plants,  elimination  of 
management  expenses,  and  discounts  on  immense  pur- 
chases of  raw  material,  he  expected  the  whole  benefit 
himself.  Instead  of  getting  it  he  saw  it  retained  in 
dividends.     The  percentage  of  earnings  on  the  shares 

19 


290  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

was  not  increased,  but  their  number  was.  The  plants 
absorbed  had  not  grown  in  value  with  the  increase  in 
shares.  The  additional  stocks  represented  no  more 
worth  in  the  properties  absorbed,  but  were  devised  to 
keep  him  from  receiving  any  part  of  the  lessened  cost  in 
production.  They  were  water.  If  watering  stock  were 
not  a  part  of  the  production  of  trusts,  the  consumer 
would  be  benefited  by  their  formation  as  well  as  the 
capitalists  and  laborers. 

It  would  be  of  no  use  to  argue  with  the  consumer  that 
when  a  price  had  been  established  and  accepted  by  the 
people,  and  was  ungrudgingly  paid,  simply  because  the 
thing  carrying  it  was  worth  it,  and  a  genius  came  along 
and  devised  a  method  of  producing  that  thing  in  a 
cheaper  way,  the  genius  was  entitled  to  the  sum  of  his 
saving,  as  a  reward  for  that  exercise  of  his  talent.  If  you 
should  instance  the  highest  form  of  this  kind  of  work — 
patents — the  consumer  would  respond  that  the  public 
had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  furnishing  genius  the  field 
necessary  for  the  operation  of  its  talent.  He  would  tell 
you  that  inventors  were  limited  to  a  seventeen  years' 
monopoly,  after  which  the  public  acquired  the  whole  * 
value  of  the.  invention,  and  that  even  during  the  term  of 
the  monopoly  the  public  had  the  right,  and  always  used 
it,  of  breaking  down  the  inventor's  monopoly  if  he  didn't 
reduce  prices,  by  stimulating  other  inventors  to  do  it. 

As  his  strongest  argument  against  the  formation  of 
trusts,  the  consumer  would  then  tell  you  that  they  really 
never  would  be  formed  but  for  the  opportunity  they 
afforded  of  selling  water  at  high  prices.  That  was  the 
one  inducement  that  drew  men  of  commercial  talent  into 
the  work  of  organizing  them.      The  promoters  of  trusts 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  291 

ascertained  how  much  each  of  the  companies  to  be 
absorbed  was  worth  at  the  market;  they  added  all  these 
sums  and  then  arranged  for  that  total  of  money  with 
which  to  buy.  They  then  accurately  calculated  the  sav- 
ing that  could  be  made  upon  the  whole  output  of  these 
establishments  when  conducted  under  one  management. 
They  capitalized  the  amount  of  the  ascertained  saving 
and  added  this  to  the  sum  needed  to  purchase,  and  to 
that  aggregate  usually  put  something  on  account  of 
monopoly.  They  stocked  a  corporation  for  the  whole 
amount,  bought  the  companies  out  at  the  arranged  prices, 
sold  them  to  the  corporation  for  the  sum  of  its  capital, 
taking  their  pay  in  either  cash  or  new  shares.  They 
made  the  difference  between  what  they  bought  at  and 
what  they  sold  at  without  putting  anything  into  the  new 
company  but  manipulation  and  water.  These  promoters 
seldom  had  any  intention  of  identifying  themselves  with 
the  conduct  of  the  business  in  its  new  form.  As  a  rule, 
their  sole  aim  was  to  make  a  market  for  watered  stock 
and  then  part  with  it.  The  opportunities  for  such  spec- 
ulations were  numerous  in  a  rapidly  growing  country  like 
this,  and  were  the  principal,  if  not  the  only,  cause  of  the 
formation  of  trusts. 

You  would  not  be  able  to  make  any  effective  reply  to 
the  consumer's  argument. 

The  question  was  now  reduced  to  this:  what  was  the 
best  way  to  prevent  the  known  evils  of  the  trust  and  at 
the  same  time  conserve  its  advantages,  without  discour- 
aging the  consolidation  of  capital? 

If  the  main  inducement  to  unnecessary  promotion 
were  eliminated  it  would  not  discourage  beneficial  combi- 
nation of  capital;  in  fact,  it  might  encourage  it  byremov- 


292  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

ing  the  necessity  of  paying  dividends  on  anything  but 
actual  investment.  Capital  would  then  move  naturally 
into  advantageous  consolidations.  The  watering  of 
trust  stocks  made  impossible,  prices  would  fall  as  they 
should  under  trust  consolidation  and  management.  The 
consumer  would  be  satisfied  with  his  share  of  the  result, 
w*hile  capital  and  labor  would  be  as  well  off  in  their 
prospects  as  before. 

The  best  thing  to  do,  Mr.  Madden  concluded,  was  to 
apply  the  national  bank  method  of  supervision  to  all 
trusts  or  other  corporations  formed  to  make  or  handle 
articles  of  general  necessity  or  interest,  and  have  the 
states  adopt  a  similar  method  of  overseeing  those  whose 
business  was  local. 

He  then  described  the  Federal  supervision  of  the  banks : 
how  it  refused  to  permit  organization  until  the  Govern- 
ment saw,  counted  and  was  satisfied  with  the  capital  put 
up ;  how  it  prevented  the  issuing  of  more  shares  than  were 
paid  for  in  actual  value;  how  it  exercised  constant  watch 
over  the  way  the  banks  did  business;  how  it  protected  the 
stockholders,  the  customers,  the  depositors  and  the  public 
by  frequent  inspection  of  the  books  and  compulsory 
publicity  of  the  actual  condition  of  the  business,  ascer- 
tained by  responsible  and  reliable  sworn  examination; 
how  the  whole  Government  action  prevented  speculative 
promotion  and  all  watering  processes,  without  in  any 
wise  interfering  with  perfect  liberty  of  all  honorable 
action  in  the  way  of  transacting  sound  business.  It  was 
made  plain  that  while  the  Government  control  of  the 
formation  of  national  banks,  and  its  frequent  examina- 
tion of  their  books,  and  its  periodical  enforcement  of 
publication  of  their  actual  condition,  prevented  speculat- 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  293 

ive  promotion  of  banks,  watering  their  stocks,  and  all 
collusive  attempts  at  controlling  either  the  price  of 
money  or  its  free  use,  the  supervision  did  not  restrict  the 
growth  of  any  proper  banking  enterprise,  but  on  the 
contrary  encouraged  it,  while  reducing  cost  to  the  users 
of  money. 

Mr.  Bethea,  and  all  the  auditors  agreed  with  him, 
declared  that  Mr.  Madden's  proposed  application  of  the 
Federal  banking  methods  to  the  business  of  corporations 
handling  things  of  general  necessity  and  use,  would  not 
only  solve  the  trust  problem,  but  would  establish  the 
same  concord  between  the  large  manufacturers  and  the 
consumers  as  now  existed  between  the  users  of  money  and 
the  banks  that  furnished  it.  In  addition,  it  would  vastly 
increase  American  production  in  the  same  way  the  banks 
had  assisted  in  the  immense  increase  and  circulation  of 
money. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


PROPOSES    AN    EFFECTIVE    METHOD    OF    ACCOMPLISHING    ANNEXA- 
TION  OF    CANADA. 


SPEAKING  on  the  Canadian  question  during  the  cam- 
paign of  1900,  Mr.  Madden  used  the  following  inter- 
esting argument: 

"Every  time  I  look  across  the  St.  Lawrence  River 
upon  Canada,  I  am  sorry  to  see  that  country  remaining 
foreign  soil.  It  should  be  a  part  of  this  Union.  The 
manifest  destiny  of  all  North  America  is  to  be  in  the 
United  States.  Canada  should  be  in  now,  and  would  be 
but  for  the  tariff  policy  of  the  Democratic  party,  which 
favors  low  duties  or  none  at  all.  Give  the  Dominion 
free  trade  with  our  country  and  she  will  never  annex  so 
long  as  she  has  it.  Give  her  low  duties  and  she  will 
remain  foreign.  Put  a  high  tariff  against  her  and  she 
will  have  to  join  us  for  self-protection.  Canada  cannot 
live  alone  without  easy  access  to  our  market.  The  easiest 
entry  would  be  that  of  free  trade.  With  it  she  would  be 
foolish  to  join  us  and  would  remain  aloof.  With  a  low 
tariff  against  her,  she  could  get  in  all  she  wanted  to  for 
the  purposes  of  trade,  and  would  not  come  to  stay  and 
be  governed.  But  if  the  customs  were  made  high  along 
our  northern  border,  Canada  would  plead  for  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  boundary. 

"What  we  Americans  pay  for  the  freedom  of  the 
market  in  these   states  and  territories  is  taxes,  military 

294 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  295 

service  and  the  cost  of  defending  the  country  when  it  is 
assailed.  When  the  tariff  is  low  Canada  gets  this  market 
for  less  than  American  citizens  pay  for  it,  because  the 
duties  she  pays  are  not  as  much  as  the  taxes  we  pay,  and 
then  we  contribute  besides  military  service,  which  she 
escapes,  as  well  as  she  does  the  other  responsibilities  that 
fall  on  us.  With  free  trade  Canada  would  have  our  mar- 
ket for  nothing  and  would  take  out  of  the  country  a  great 
deal  of  money  that  left  here  would  make  it  easier  for  us 
to  meet  the  price  we  always  have  to  pay  for  that  same 
market.  But  make  the  tariff  high,  so  high  that  it  would 
be  cheaper  for  Canada  to  come  in  and  pay  the  price  we 
do  than  pay  the  tariff  for  the  market,  and  she  would 
come  in  in  a  hurry,  for  then  it  would  be  foolish  to  stay 
out. 

"The  Democratic  policy  of  low  tariff  is  unpatriotic, 
because  it  gives  the  foreigner  the  American  market  for 
less  than  the  American  citizen  has  to  pay  for  it.  The 
Republican  policy  of  Protection,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
patriotic,  because  its  aim  is  to  compel  the  foreigner  to 
contribute  towards  the  support  of  our  Government  a  sum 
as  nearly  as  possible  equivalent  to  that  the  citizen  pays 
for  the  use  of  this  market. 

44  So  long  as  there  is  any  probability  that  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  especially  as  led  by  Bryan,  who  is  a  Free 
Trader,  may  possess  the  management  of  American 
affairs,  just  that  long  will  Canada  hold  out.  If  there 
could  be  established  a  certainty  that  the  Republican 
party  would  remain  in  Washington  for  an  indefinitely 
long  time,  an  annexation  movement  would  start  among 
the  Canadians  right  away. 

"The   Democratic  leaning  towards  free  trade,  that 


296  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

unpatriotic  policy  which  pays  Canada  to  remain  British 
territory,  incommodes  this  nation  in  many  ways.  For 
instance:  it  retards  the  construction  of  an  inter-oceanic 
canal  by  depriving  England  of  an  incentive  towards 
helping  us  in  the  project  instead  of  placing  obstacles  in 
our  way.  The  railway  across  Canada  along  our  northern 
boundary  is  a  subsidized  road.  It  is  an  arm  of  the  Brit- 
ish military  service.  When  first  constructed  its  chief 
value  to  Great  Britain  lay  in  the  fact  that  it  would  enable 
her  to  move  an  army  to  a  part  of  Asia  with  greater 
speed  and  at  less  expense  than  it  could  be  done  by  any 
other  route.  Why  did  Britain  desire  to  be  thus  equipped? 
To  get  at  Russia  to  circumvent  the  Bear  in  his  plans  in 
the  Orient.  Now,  Russia  is  our  friend,  and  once  did  us 
the  great  service  of  preventing  the  dismemberment  of 
this  Republic.  She  placed  her  fleet  where  it  could  do  us 
the  most  good  at  that  critical  juncture  in  our  affairs. 
The  Bear  did  us  another  good  turn.  When  we  were 
endeavoring  to  preserve  the  entire  Pacific  coast  as  Amer- 
ican territory,  in  the  days  of  the  *  54-49,  or  fight'  excite- 
ment, he  growled  for  us.  He  again  helped  us,  and  our 
Monroe  Doctrine  ambition,  by  ceding  Alaska  for  a  bag- 
atelle, as  a  sort  of  notice  to  the  world  that  the  Czar,  who 
was  a  nearer  neighbor  than  any  other  European  power, 
thought  America  ought  to  be  for  the  Americans.  The 
Czar  must  have  often  puzzled  himself  with  the  query: 
'Why  do  my  friends,  the  Yankees,  permit  my  enemy  to 
come  at  me  across  American  territory  which  they  can 
annex  for  nothing  any  time  they  choose  by  simply  rais- 
ing their  tariff?'  He  must  have  thought,  our  Protector, 
the  Czar  must,  that  our  tariff  policy  was  specially 
arranged  to  be  unfriendly  to  him,  as  well  as  unpatriotic 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  297 

and  foolish.  When  I  think  of  this  it  puzzles  me,  as  well 
as  it  must  Russia,  that  any  Irishman  should  ever  vote 
with  the  Democratic  party  in  this  country  so  long  as  that 
party  favors  free  trade. 

44 If  Canada  should  join  the  Union,  England  would 
coax  us  to  build  the  Isthmian  Canal.  She  would  like  to 
have  it  built  anyhow.  It  is  a  better  way,  shorter,  quicker, 
cheaper  than  any  other  from  Europe  to  Eastern  Asia. 
Great  Britain  is  not  now  concerned  any  more  to  get  across 
America  to  prevent  the  Bear  from  getting  out  of  Russia. 
He  is  out.  While  England  has  been  fooling  with  the 
Boers  in  South  Africa,  the  Bear  has  got  a  highway  to  the 
Pacific  through  China.  It  is  all  he  wants.  He  owns  it 
and  is  immovably  in  possession.  So,  England  would 
like  to  see  the  canal  built  on  general  principles.  But 
she  likes  to  bargain.  So  long  as  she  has  the  Canadian 
route  she  will  continue  to  dicker.  In  her  soul  she  would 
cheerfully  give  Canada  and  all  its  belongings  to  have  us 
dig  the  canal.  That  would  enable  her  to  get  from  ocean 
to  ocean  with  less  expense  than  the  Dominion  entails. 
But  she  does  not  like  to  admit  this,  and  does  like  to  say, 
Til  help  you  in  this  canal  business,  for  a  consideration; 
you  see,  I  don't  need  the  canal,  I  have  the  road  across 
Canada/  But  if. we  had  Canada  we'd  have  the  canal, 
and  we'd  4have'  England. 

44  The  Democratic  policy  of  free  trade  keeps  Canada 
out  of  the  Union  and  retards  the  construction  of  the 
canal. 

4 'Chicago  is  going  to  be  the  greatest  city  in  America. 
It  will  have  a  waterway  to  Europe  by  the  St.  Lawrence 
River.  It  cannot  get  this  route  in  proper  order  for  the 
immense  trade  it  is  going  to  carry  on  direct  with  Europe 


298  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

without  trans-shipment  until  the  St.  Lawrence  is  under 
United  States  control.  As  that  control  is  needed  for 
Chicago's  purpose,  Chicago  will  endeavor  to  procure  it. 
The  easiest  way  will  be  to  bring  about  annexation.  As 
that  can  be  best  accomplished  through  a  sufficiently  pro- 
tective tariff,  it  stands  to  reason  that  Chicago  will  find  a 
way  to  make  the  Democratic  unpatriotic  policy  of  free 
trade,  which  pays  Canada  to  remain  a  foreign  country, 
so  odious  and  so  unpopular  that  Canada  will  find  it  to 
her  interest  to  come  into  the  United  States,  where  she 
belongs,  and  get  the  American  market  by  the  best  pos- 
sible method,  paying  the  same  taxes  for  it  that  we  pay. 
"The  Protective  policy  is  so  essentially  American,  it 
is  so  beneficial  in  every  way,  and  it  is  so  patriotic,  as 
this  application  of  it  shows,  that  one  would  think  the 
opposite  policy  too  hateful  for  any  man  living  in  this 
country  to  espouse." 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 


OPPOSES   FREE    CHINESE   IMMIGRATION — SOME    NEW   AND    CONVINC- 
ING  ARGUMENTS. 


THE  organization  started  in  this  country  five  years 
ago  by  Wong  Chin  Foo,  under  the  name  of  the 
44 Chinese  Equal  Rights  League,"  is,  according  to  reports 
from  Washington,  to  be  placed  under  the  active  super- 
vision of  the  Chinese  Embassy.  Wong  Chin  Foo  died  in 
Shanghai  recently,  while  on  a  visit  to  his  family,  and 
the  League  has  since  his  death  been  rather  inactive. 
Wong  had  his  American  headquarters  in  Chicago,  and 
the  proclaimed  object  of  his  organization  was  to  secure 
the  right  of  suffrage,  now  denied,  to  Chinamen  of 
Oriental  birth  permanently  residing  in  this  country. 
Under  its  new  management  the  League  will  broaden  its 
scope  and  work  with  all  its  strength  to  create  public 
opinion  in  favor  of  doing  away  with  the  policy  of  exclu- 
sion, which  at  present  prevents  Chinese  labor  from  com- 
ing into  the  United  States.  The  Exclusion  Act  expires 
within  the  next  year,  and  the  League  hopes  to  be 
able  to  prevent  a  renewal  of  the  law.  This  Chinese 
society  is  rich  and  powerful,  having  its  membership  skill- 
fully spread  all  over  the  country  and  into  Hawaii  and 
the  Philippines.  Under  the  direction  of  the  astute  Wu 
Ting  Fang  it  would  prove  to  be  a  most  potent  factor  in 
educating  the  American  mind  towards  the  Chinaman's 
side  of  the  question.     One  of  the  arguments  already  put 

299 


300  MARTIN   B.    MADDEN 

out  by  the  League  is  that  a  continuance  of  the  policy  of 
exclusion  will  result  in  such  prejudice  in  China  as  to 
imperil  our  chances  of  obtaining  a  fair  share  of  the  com- 
ing vast  trade  of  that  empire. 

The  Manufacturers'  Association  of  Illinois  represents 
firms  employing  300,000  mechanics  and  laborers  within 
the  state.  Its  Board  of  Directors  has  headquarters  in 
Chicago,  and  is  about  as  alert  a  body  as  there  is  to-day 
in  this  country  in  the  task  of  studying  international 
trade  conditions.  The  men  composing  this  directory 
have  thoroughly  perceived  the  reasons  underlying  the 
colossal  railroad  combinations  seeking  Pacific  outlets  for 
American  productions;  they  understand  the  possibilities 
of  Oriental  trade  in  their  bearing  on  the  future  of  Chi- 
cago and  Illinois,  and  are  as  well  informed  and  as  well 
qualified  to  speak  with  knowledge  and  authority  upon 
the  commercial  phase  of  the  Chinese  question  as  any 
business  men  in  the  United  States. 

For  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  opinion  of  Illi- 
nois manufacturers  respecting  the  new  aspect  which  the 
Chinese  question  is  assuming  in  the  country,  a  reporter 
was  sent  to  interview  Mr.  Madden,  who,  besides  being 
President  of  the  Manufacturers'  Association,  is  Presi- 
dent and  General  Manager  of  the  Western  Stone  Com- 
pany, which  employs  2,000  men.  Being  asked  if  he 
favored  the  extension  of  the  Chinese  Exclusion  Act,  Mr. 
Madden  replied: 

"The  act,  as  I  understand  it,  prohibits  the  admission 
to  the  United  States  of  Chinese  laborers,  but  permits  the 
entry  of  merchants,  students,  travelers,  and  other  per- 
sons who  come  from  China  to  this  country  for  purposes 
other  than  that  of  making  a  living  by  manual  work.     It 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  301 

is  about  to  expire,  and  the  query  is  as  to  its  renewal. 
China  has  not  asked  our  Government  to  take  action  in 
the  matter,  and  the  question  is  not  at  issue  yet." 

But  public  opinion  is  being  formed  respecting  the 
question,  and  it  is  desired  to  know  your  position  upon  it. 
Are  you  in  favor  of  continuing  the  exclusion  of  Chinese 
labor  from  the  United  States? 

44 As  the  matter  now  stands,  I  am  in  favor  of  continu- 
ing the  exclusion.  China  does  not  freely  admit  foreign- 
ers to  her  territory.  For  the  purposes  of  trade,  Chris- 
tians are  permitted  free  access  to  certain  prescribed 
zones  in  a  number  of  what  are  called  treaty  ports.  In 
these  zones  Christians  are  freely  allowed  to  go  and  come. 
But  no  Christian,  unless  he  be  a  missionary,  may  go, 
without  special  permission  and  arrangement,  anywhere 
else  in  the  empire — not  even  ambassadors.  Only  mis- 
sionaries may  go  outside  the  treaty  port  zones.  The 
missionaries  have  this  privilege  through  a  special  clause 
in  the  Treaty  of  Pekin,  signed  after  the  suppression  of 
the  Taiping  Rebellion.  The  rebellion  was  put  down  by 
Christian  aid,  and  the  Chinese  have  always  maintained 
that  the  clause  permitting  missionaries  free  access  to  the 
empire  was  got  into  the  treaty  by  unfair  means.  On 
this  account  the  Celestials  have  always  looked  upon  our 
missionaries  as  intruders  in  fact,  and  have  resented  their 
presence  by  all  the  kinds  of  persecution  the  natives  have 
dared  to  use.  Curzon,  in  'Problems  of  the  Far  East/ 
gives  the  history  of  the  alleged  secret  tampering  with  the 
treaty  which  makes  a  privileged  class  of  the  missionaries. 
As  China  does  not  permit  the  unrestricted  immigration 
of  Americans  into  China,  why  should  we  allow  China- 
men to  freely  come  into  the  United   States?      It  would 


302  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

not  be  even  good  foolishness  to  throw  our  doors  open  to 
them  as  long  as  they  bar  their  doors  to  us. " 

But  it  is  believed  that  China  is  about  to  modernize 
and  open  her  empire  to  the  world.  If  she  does  and  per- 
mits free  access  to  our  people,  would  you  be  in  favor  of 
giving  her  people  the  right  of  unrestricted  immigration 
into  this  country? 

44No,  I  would  not  even  then,  and  for  this  reason: 
Good  authorities,  like  Miss  Leiter's  husband,  the  present 
Viceroy  of  India,  put  the  present  population  of  China  at 
600,000,000.  When  I  was  a  boy  the  geographies  said 
China  had  400,000,000  people.  We  have  76,000,000 
people  in  the  United  States.  According  to  Curzon,  then, 
China  has  about  eight  times  as  many  people  as  the 
United  States  have,  and  even  the  school  books  of  thirty 
years  ago  gave  her  more  than  five  times  as  many  as  we 
now  have.  Why  should  the  United  States  permit 
600,000,000  Chinamen  to  have  free  access  to  this  coun- 
try for  the  privilege  of  entry  to  China  for  only 
76,000,000  Americans?  Why  give  eight  for  one — eight 
entries  for  one  entry?  The  question  of  immigration 
from  China  is  entirely  different  from  any  other  immigra- 
tion question.  The  labor  of  the  United  States  must  now 
withstand  the  competition  of  all  the  labor  that  comes  here 
from  every  one  of  the  countries  in  the  world  between 
which  and  the  United  States  there  is  at  present  free 
immigration.  The  task  is  hard  enough.  To  make  it  still 
harder  by  subjecting  American  labor  to  a  possible  ava- 
lanche of  competition  from  China — an  avalanche  that 
unscrupulous  American  contractors  at  any  time  might 
precipitate — would  be  a  blundering  crime.  The  very 
foolishness  of  proposing  to  allow    Chinese    labor    free 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  303 

admission  to  the  United  States  to  compete  with  strug- 
gling labor  here  while  China  will  not  allow  even  an  Ameri- 
can Ambassador  free  admission  into  that  empire, is  a  thing 
that  must  appeal  to  the  Celestial  as  evidence  of  the  infe- 
riority of  the  Western  mind  in  business  matters.1" 

Will  not  the  Chinese  government  resent  continued 
exclusion,  and  will  not  this  resentment  hurt  American 
trade  in  China? 

"Not  at  all.  The  Chinese  government  has  never 
entertained  any  feeling  of  resentment  towards  this 
country  because  of  our  exclusion  of  Chinese  labor.  If 
we  had  put  up  the  bars  against  all  classes  of  Chinese 
people,  Pekin  would  not  have  demurred.  China  herself 
set  the  example  of  exclusion,  and,  still  believing  it  good, 
cannot  object  to  other  nations  following  it.  China  has 
been  irritated  at  our  attempts  to  keep  out  the  classes  we 
agreed  to  let  in.  Our  immigration  agents,  in  their  zeal 
to  protect  American  labor  against  Chinese  immigration, 
have  often  detained  students,  travelers  and  merchants 
from  China,  who  have  had  the  right  under  the  law  to 
come  in.  This  has  been  done  generally  because  of  sus- 
picion that  the  prisoners  were  really  laborers  attempting 
under  disguise  to  evade  the  law.  Naturally,  the  Pekin 
government  would  be  irritated  at  attempts  to  keep  out 
of  the  United  States  any  Chinaman  we  had  agreed  to  let 
in,  even  though  willing,  in  the  first  place,  to  have  all 
its  subjects  barred  out  as  it  bars  all  foreigners  out. 
China's  irritation  has  never  been  because  of  our  exclu- 
sion policy  itself,  but  solely  because  of  breach  of  contract 
in  the  method  of  carrying  out  the  exclusion  act  to  which 
she  consented. 

44  In  my  opinion  China  never  cared  a  cash  whether  we 


304  MARTJN  B.  MADDEN 

let  her  people  in  or  not,  and  I  don't  think  she  cares  now. 
If  ever  China  opens  her  empire  to  free  immigration, 
then  she  may-bring  the  question  up.  She  cannot  well  do 
it  before  that  time.  When  the  question  comes  up,  if  it 
ever  arises,  China  will  only  ask  that  a  limited  number  of 
her  people  be  allowed  to  enter  those  countries  from 
which  she  will  permit  unrestricted  immigration.  The 
size  of  her  population  will  preclude  her  from  making  any 
other  demand,  and  her  interest  will  be  to  keep  her  labor- 
ers at  home  and  to  obtain  immigration  rights  for  her 
mercantile  classes.  I  say  this  because  I  believe  that  China 
is  soon  to  become  the  greatest  food  buyer  in  the  world,  and, 
so  far  as  the  number  of  employed  goes,  the  greatest  man- 
ufacturing country.  Her  condition  now  is  like  what  Eng- 
land's was  when  England  found  her  population  exceed- 
ing the  ability  of  her  land  to  feed.  She  abandoned  agri- 
culture as  a  pursuit  and  went  into  manufacture.  Since 
doing  that  England  has  become  the  richest  and  the  most 
powerful  nation  in  the  Old  World.  China's  population  is 
now  greater  than  her  exhausted  land  can  feed.  Her 
only  hope  lies  in  following  the  example  of  England. 
Her  statesmen  know  this,  and  they  have  brought  the 
present  Emperor  to  fully  realize  it.  The  events  of  the 
recent  war  have  rendered  Kwang-Su  independent  of  the 
Dowager  Empress.  He  will  be  firm  on  the  throne  on  his 
return  to  Pekin.  He  will  quickly  modernize  China  after 
the  example  of  his  friend,  the  Mikado  of  Japan.  Then 
China  will  become  a  manufacturing  nation  and  buy  its 
food.  The  Chinaman  will  never  buy  anything  he  can 
make  for  himself.  He  will  compete  against  the  whole 
present  civilized  world  in  manufactures,  having  all  the 
necessary  raw  material  in  great  abundance.    But  he  can- 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  305 

not  raise  his  food.  He  will  have  to  buy  that.  Chinese 
statesmen  calculate  that  in  following"  the  example  of 
England  China  will  become  as  much  more  powerful  and 
as  much  richer  than  England  as  she  outnumbers  England 
in  population.  That  is  a  reasonable  calculation.  To  us 
it  means  that  China  will  buy  from  us  many  times  as 
much  food  as  England  does.  Good  economists  figure  that 
the  trade  in  food  to  China  alone  will  in  the  near  future 
equal  in  value  our  entire  present  foreign  trade  to 
Europe.  That  means  that  every  acre  of  land  between 
Chicago  and  the  Pacific  coast  capable  of  yielding  a  cereal 
will  be  coaxed  into  cultivation;  that  capital  will  find  one 
of  its  most  profitable  employments  in  furnishing  irriga- 
tion to  the  West;  that  the  densest  and  most  prosperous 
population  in  the  United  States  will  be  the  agricultural 
population  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  and  that  Chicago, 
the  manufacturing  and  financial  metropolis  of  this  region, 
will  be  the  largest  and  the  richest  city  in  this  country. 

Then  you  don't  believe,  Mr.  Madden,  that  our  exclu- 
sion policy  will  injure  our  chances  in  Chinese  trade? 

4 'In  my  opinion  our  exclusion  policy  will  cut  no  figure 
at  all  in  our  efforts  to  obtain  trade  in  China.  China 
never  cared,  and  does  not  now  care,  whether  we  let  her 
laborers  come  here  or  keep  them  out.  Nor  do  the  Chi- 
nese people  themselves  care.  China  never  lifted  a  finger 
to  encourage  Chinese  emigration  to  the  United  States. 
Practically  no  Chinese  have  ever  sought  to  leave  China 
to  settle  elsewhere.  Practically  no  Chinamen  have  ever 
come  here  to  live  from  any  of  the  eighteen  provinces  of 
the  empire  except  the  coolies  of  Canton.  Most  of  these 
were  coaxed  over  by  the  builders  of  the  Pacific  railroads 
because  of  the  scarcity  of  laborers  in  the  Far  West,  and 

20 


306  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

were  left  to  shift  for  themselves  when  the  roads  were 
finished.  Most  of  these  coolies  have  always  desired  to 
get  back  home.  Such  of  them  as  have  been  able  to  go 
have  gone.  The  present  census  shows  that  there  are 
17,000  less  Chinamen  here  now  than  there  were  ten  years 
ago,  when  we  had  a  few  more  than  100,000  in  the  coun- 
try. The  facts  show  that  the  Cantonese  Chinamen  are 
leaving  the  country  gradually,  and  that  there  has  been 
no  desire  on  the  part  of  Chinamen  in  any  of  the  other 
seventeen  provinces  of  China  to  come  here  at  all.  Our 
laws  permit  merchants '  and  students  from  China  to 
enter  this  country.  The  total  number  of  these  at  home 
must  be  about  80,000,000.  They  have  now  the  right  to 
swamp  this  country.  But  they  do  not  do  it,  because  of 
the  strong  hereditary  disposition  of  the  Chinaman  to 
remain  at  home  and  of  the  filial  arrangements  which 
make  it  almost  impossible  for  him  to  expatriate  himself. 
There  is  a  treaty  between  Mexico  and  China  permitting 
unrestricted  immigration  between  the  two  countries. 
Diaz  made  it  to  encourage  Chinese  labor  to  come  to  the 
Republic,  so  that  capital  might  be  induced  to  go  into  the 
country  and  develop  it,  as  he  believed  it  would  do  if  it 
could  get  good  laborers,  as  the  Chinese  are,  the  peons 
being  of  little  value.  So  few  Chinamen  from  China  have 
responded  that  Mr.  George  Pippey,  of  San  Francisco,  to 
save  some  properties  bought  under  the  stimulus  of  Diaz's 
treaty,  has  recently  been  scouring  the  Pacific  coast  to  get 
5,000  celestials  to  go  to  Mexico  under  very  high  wages  to 
dig  from  the  earth  the  precious  metals  the  native  Mex- 
ican is  too  indolent  or  inefficient  to  extract.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  produce  an  exodus  from  China,  and  the  facts 
show  there  is  no  present  danger  of  one. 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  307 

"From  all  this  it  would  appear  that  there  is  nothing 
at  all  in  the  talk  about  the  problem  of  Chinese  immigra- 
tion. There  is  no  such  problem.  The  Chinese  don't 
care  enough  about  coming  here  to  afford  material  for  a 
problem.  Hence,  there  is  no  prejudice  to  encounter  in 
our  efforts  to  secure  trade  in  China.  The  Chinaman 
will  buy  our  food  because  he  wants  it  and  we  have  it  to 
sell.  That  is  the  reason  the  Englishman  buys  it.  He 
buys  it  in  spite  of  our  tariffs  against  everything  he  has 
to  sell  us,  in  spite  of  two  wars  against  him  and  a  num- 
ber of  jolting  bluffs,  and  does  it  without  even  the  retalia- 
tion of  duties.  There  is  no  sentiment  in  trade,  despite 
all  that  free  traders  assert.  If  there  were,  sentiment 
would  all  be  on  our  side  in  China.  The  Chinese  have 
seen  us  present  with  an  army  in  their  country  and  they 
all  like  us  because  they  have  seen  for  themselves  that 
the  Americans  are  the  fairest,  the  justest  and  the  most 
Confucian  people  in  all  the  Christian  world." 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 


STUDY  OF  A  PERFECT   PUBLIC   SERVANT — ESSENTIAL   QUALITIES   HE 
MUST   POSSESS. 


THE  boy  got  to  the  head  of  every  class  he  entered, 
either  in  study  or  at  work.  The  youth  did  the 
same.  So  did  the  man.  The  lad  began  as  a  water  car- 
rier and  rose  to  be  time-keeper.  The  youth  started  ,as 
draughtsman  and  was  superintendent  before  he  attained 
his  majority.  The  man  commenced  as  overseer  and 
went  steadily  to  the  Presidency.  In  every  company  he 
served  his  progress  was  the  same :  he  got  to  the  top.  He 
did*  it  in  the  first,  the  Enterprise;  in  the  second,  the 
Consolidated;  in  the  third,  the  Joliet  and  Crescent, 
and  in  the  last,  the  Western  Stone. 

In  political  life  he  joined  his  party  organization  as 
district  member  and  became  Chairman  of  the  City  Cen- 
tral Committee. 

Entering  the  city  legislature  so  "green"  that  his  party 
in  that  body  did  not  know  what  use  to  make  of  him,  in 
three  years  he  was  leader  in  the  Council  and  the  best 
presiding  officer  it  ever  had.  Commencing  as  city  serv- 
ant with  his  first  sight  of  a  law-making  body  in  session, 
in  four  years  he  was  the  town's  Finance  Minister,  its 
principal  law-maker  and  the  greatest  constructive  genius 
in  the  work  of  city  building  the  municipality  ever  had. 

Going  into  state  politics  as  a  district  delegate  to  a 
National  Convention,  he  began  with  one  vote,  his  own, 

308 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  309 

the  work  of  committing  a  Presidential  nominee  to  the 
declaration  of  a  principle  essential  to  success,  and  con- 
cluded the  task  with  his  state's  whole  delegation  demand- 
ing the  declaration  and  able  to  enforce  it.  Chosen  by 
his  state's  representatives  at  the  Philadelphia  Conven- 
tion to  see  that  the  party  in  power  assembled  there  prop- 
erly voiced  in  its  promised  policy  the  wishes  of  Illinois 
and  the  West  in  having  the  cause  of  Labor  recognized,  in 
having  agriculture  relieved  from  Eastern  financial  dom- 
inance by  the  establishment  of  small  national  banks  with 
local  circulation,  and  in  having  the  inter-oceanic  canal 
free  to  take  the  best  route,  he  succeeded  in  having  the 
platform  remodeled  to  conform  to  the  whole  purpose  of 
his  mission. 

VThat  enabled  the  boy,  the  youth,  the  man,  the  public 
servant,  to  accomplish  these  things — to  succeed  in  every 
essay?  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  overthrow  of 
the  all-night  ordinance,  the  defeat  of  the  retention  of 
illegal  police,  the  forcing  of  the  salvation  of  the  Lake 
Front,  the  passage  of  the  Civil  Service  Reform  Law,  and 
the  adoption  of  the  word  Isthmian  at  Philadelphia,  were 
all  the  work  of  one  man,  Madden,  alone  and  against  odds 
that  would  have  dismayed  any  other.  Nor  can  there  be 
any  doubt  that  a  very  large  part  of  the  work  that  has 
made  Chicago  what  it  is  among  cities;  that  has  given 
Illinois  the  place  of  decisive  power  it  holds  in  the  Repub- 
lican organization;  and  that  has  endeared  the  party  in 
power  to  the  people  of  the  West,  was  also  performed  by 
him. 

What  is  the  secret  of  such  a  man's  power?  Is  it 
brains?  Many  brainy  men  have  no  influence  among  their 
fellow-men.     Is  it  success?     Some  of  the  most  successful 


310  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

people  in  the  world  are  hated.  Perhaps  it  lies  in  his 
genius  for  management?  Several  of  the  best  business 
managers  in  the  Union  are  always  under  bond.  No:  it 
is  morality.  The  man  is  moral.  Every  person  engaged 
in  business  in  and  about  Chicago  knows  that  Martin  B. 
Madden  is  a  moral  man.  His  morality  is  not  labeled.  It 
is  not  professed.  It  is  never  thrust  on  any  one.  It  does 
not  preach,  nor  assert,  nor  lecture,  nor  obtrude.  It  never 
says  *4 1. "  It  has  no  personal  pronoun.  It  simply  exists. 
But  its  existence  is  so  palpable,  so  certain,  so  definite, 
so  unswervable,  that  people  know  the  man  can  neither 
be  induced  to  do  wrong  nor  dissuaded  by  any  influence 
from  doing  right.  And  then  he  has  the  perception,  the 
insight,  the  knowledge,  the  wisdom  to  see  the  right  at 
once.  He  does  not  have  to  have  it  pointed  out  to  him, 
nor  to  be  led  up  to  it,  nor  to  go  through  any  sort  of 
mental  exercise  or  clarification  to  see  it.  When  he  looks 
at  all  at  any  subject  the  thing  he  first  sees  is  the  right 
in  it.     And  that  is  the  main  thing. 

The  oldest  thought  in  civilization  is  that  the  real  prog- 
ress of  man  is  moral.  It  is  held  that  there  is  latent  in 
the  race  a  sixth  sense,  the  full  possession  of  which  will 
enable  man  to  think  and  see  and  do  wonderfully  com- 
pared to  what  he  now  can.  Human  .progress  is  inevitably 
towards  this  superiority.  It  is  away  from  grossness  and 
towards  decarnalization.  Every  once  in  a  while  a  good 
man  so  purifies  himself  as  to  unclog  his  mind  entirely. 
His  mental  sight  being  clear,  he  says  and  sees  better 
than  his  fellows.  In  all  ages  it  has  been  such  men  who 
have  led.  Their  number  is  steadily  increasing  and  the 
race  goes  faster  towards  morality.  It  is  chat  far  now 
that  gross  men,  with  unclean  minds,  are  not  sufficiently 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  311 

moral  to  have  influence  like  such  men  had  in  coarser 
times.  In  both  public  and  commercial  life  the  demand 
for  virtue  would  now  bar  from  success  many  men  who 
not  long  ago  satisfied  the  public  eye.  It  is  beginning  to 
be  realized  that  a  really  good  man  is  more  apt  to  be 
sufficiently  able  than  that  a  merely  able  man  is  likely  to 
be  sufficiently  good.  The  public  has  more  confidence  in 
virtue  than  in  ability.  Mere  ability  is  often  dangerous: 
virtue  never  is.  In  any  crisis  the  American  people,  the 
most  advanced  in  the  world,  will  be  sure  to  show  that 
what  they  love  most  in  the  President  and  Vice-President 
of  the  United  States  now  in  office  is  not  their  ability, 
however  that  may  develop,  but  the  morality  so  marked 
in  both  men.  That  will  be  found  to  be  the  quality  in 
which  reposes  the  confidence  of  the  greatest  people  in 
the  world.  The  able  man  may  be  right  part  of  the  time : 
may  be  correct  most  of  the  time.  The  good  man  is  sure 
to  be  right  all  the  time.  He  cannot  be  anything  else, 
while  the  other  man  can  be,  and  is  all  the  time  liable  to 
be. 

A  line  of  any  given  length  encloses  the  greatest  area 
possible  for  it  to  surround  when  it  is  perfectly  circular. 
If  a  man's  mental  line  be  equally  distant  at  all  points 
from  his  moral  center  it  will  enclose  for  him  the  great- 
est ability  he  is  capable  of.  If  the  line  be  a  large  one 
he  will  be  a  great  man.  He  will  have  the  greatest 
possible  average  of  qualities.  If  a  man  with  equal  length 
of  line  have  his  mental  circumference  drawn  out  at  the 
end  of  any  particular  radius,  it  will  be  at  the  expense  of 
some  other  radii,  which  will  be  that  much  shorter.  Such 
a  man  v/ill  be  conspicuous  on  his  long  line  and  deficient 
on  several  other  lines.     The  greater  the  special  develop- 


312  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

merit  on  any  line  the  shorter  will  be  his  average  on  the 
other  lines.  His  conspicuousness  may  be  at  the  expense 
of  all  his  other  lines;  it  must  be  at  that  of  several  of 
them.  The  conspicuous  man  is  apt  to  attract  notice  in 
ordinary  times  by  his  special  talent,  or  development, 
which  will  engage  attention  and  distract  observation 
from  his  shortcomings.  The  round  man  will  not  attract 
so  much  attention  in  ordinary  times,  because  he  will 
average  like  many  and  not  project.  In  a  great  emer- 
gency the  conspicuous  man  will  fail,  because  his  shortage 
will  prevent  him  from  averaging  sufficiently.  In  such 
an  emergency  the  round  man  will  do  better,  because 
what  he  will  say  or  do  will  be  what  the  majority  desire 
said  or  done.  The  round  man  is  the  great  man:  the 
conspicuous  man  is  the  defective  man.  In  ordinary  life 
neither  Washington,  Lincoln,  nor  Grant  attracted  con- 
spicuous attention;  they  were  round  men,  and  did  not 
protrude  at  any  special  mental  point.  In  the  great 
emergencies  they  were  called  upon  to  fill  each  completely 
met  expectations  because  his  roundness  enabled  him  to 
do  and  say  upon  all  occasions  what  the  majority  wanted 
done  and  said.  It  can  be  seen  now  what  a  calamity  it 
would  have  been  if  a  conspicuous  man  had  been  called 
upon  to  take  the  place  either  of  these  round  men  so  com- 
pletely filled. 

The  average  man  is  round.  The  majority  are  round. 
The  demand  in  commercial  and  public  life  is  for  round 
men,  for  men  who  will  fill  the  places  assigned  to  them 
and  leave  no  gaps  or  shortages.  The  greatest  of  all 
shortages  is  that  on  moral  lines.  Men  defective  there 
are  at  this  day  of  moral  progress  the  greatest  of  misfits 
in  public  or  business  life. 


PUBLIC    SERVANT  313 

The  wheel  that  is  perfectly  round,  with  all  its  spokes 
of  equal  length,  does  its  work  best.  It  attracts  the  least 
attention  in  ordinary  circumstances,  but  lasts  the  longest 
and  goes  the  farthest.  The 'wheel  whose  spokes  are  of 
uneven  length  and  whose  tire  is  projected  at  any  point, 
will  attract  much  attention  and  make  more  noise,  but  it 
will  not  go  as  far,  as  fast,  or  as  long. 

Martin  B.  Madden  is  a  round  man  with  a  large  mental 
circumference.  How  did  he  qualify  himself  to  make  his 
morality  so  effective? 

From  his  mother  he  acquired  his  decided  taste  for 
sound  literature  and  his  aptitude  for  choice  expression. 
It  was  his  mother  also  who  gave  direction  to  the  course 
of  studies  he  has  pursued  all  his  life.  Her  father  had 
illustrated  in  his  own  person  the  value  of  special  educa- 
tion in  any  line  of  thought.  The  son  early  realized  that 
the  quickest  way  to  obtain  complete  and  reliable  informa- 
tion on  any  subject  was  to  get  it  from  recognized  author- 
ities who  spent  all  their  time  in  gathering  it.  He  formed 
the  habit  of  keeping  himself  constantly  educated  by  hir- 
ing special  instructors  to  investigate  subjects  he  desired 
to  be  versed  in  and  give  him  the  results  in  readings, 
writings,  lectures  and  answers  to  interrogatories.  He 
has  kept  this  up,  and  it  accounts  for  his  surprising  mas- 
tery of  a  vast  range  of  knowledge.  As  he  became 
absorbed  in  business  affairs  and  had  his  time  occupied  by 
them,  his  liberality  increased  in  the  payments  he  would 
make  for  special  information  to  those  competent  to 
furnish  it.  In  this  way  he  has  always  been  a  student. 
His  system  exemplifies  the  truth  that  tutored  men  often 
possess  more  valuable  education  than  regular  graduates, 
because  they  are  taught  skillfully  and  thoroughly  what 


314  MARTIN   B.  MADDEN 

they  find  they  need  to  know  and  are  interested  in  learn- 
ing. Usually,  the  tutored  seek  valuable  and  useful 
knowledge  only,  rejecting  all  that  is  valueless  and  use- 
less, which  forms  so  large  a  part  of  the  education  im- 
parted to  those  who  must  take  what  is  offered  to  them  in 
a  regular  course,  prescribed  on  general  lines. 

Mrs.  Madden  was  extremely  practical.  From  her  the 
son  undoubtedly  inherited  the  sturdiness  of  his  character ; 
the  disposition  to  depend  upon  himself;  to  ask  no  favors; 
to  expect  nothing  except  what  his  own  exertions  could 
bring;  to  live  within  his  means;  to  save  money;  to 
always  have  funds  on  hand  for  emergencies;  to  live  mod- 
erately and  with  regularity;  to  care  for  his  health;  to 
earn  his  pay;  to  make  his  services  profitable  to  those  who 
employed  him;  to  do  everything  in  his  power  to  accom- 
plish any  task  he  was  entrusted  with,  and  "  while  working 
for  others,  never  to  sell  goods  on  his  own  account,  or  for 
any  other  house  than  the  one  of  his  employer."  It  was 
these  principles,  and  especially  the  latter,  that  made  him 
so  valuable  and  efficient  in  the  many  representative  posi- 
tions he  has  been  deputed  to  fill  in  his  busy  career. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  get  into  public  life  men  who 
will  under  all  circumstances  act  solely  in  a  representative 
way  for  their  constituents  and  refrain  from  using  office 
for  other  purposes  than  those  they  are  elected  to  fill  it 
for.  Martin  Barnaby  Madden  never  represented  Mad- 
den, or  Madden's  views,  or  Madden's  friends,  in  any  of 
the  public  offices  he  has  filled;  he  represented  those  only 
who  sent  him  to  act  for  them. 

In  speech  he  has  always  been  singularly  happy.  All 
his  life  he  has  been  accustomed  to  working  for  men  his 
superiors  in  age  and  means.     This  has  given  to  him  the 


PUBLIC  SERVANT  315 

habit  of  making  statements  without  waste  and  straight 
to  the  point.  It  has  accustomed  him  to  lucidity  in  style 
— to  clear  and  terse  diction.  In  the  ability  to  make 
cogent  statements  on  any  question  it  is  doubtful  if  he  has 
a  superior  living.  The  business  men  of  many  of  the 
principal  boards  of  directors  in  Chicago  believe  he  sur- 
passes in  the  stating  faculty  any  man  ever  heard  in  the 
city. 

The  method  of  doing  business  in  the  United  States 
has  evolved  a  class  of  men  who  are  no  doubt  the  cleverest 
adepts  in  real  oratory  in  the  world.  If  results  prove  the 
value  of  talk,  then  the  men  who  have  survived  in  the 
competition  of  obtaining  cash  orders  for  every  argument 
they  make,  must  be  the  greatest  masters  of  telling 
speech.  We  would  say  to  students  of  oratory,  if  you 
wish  to  study  the  best  models  of  effective  talk,  if  you 
desire  to  learn  how  to  speak  for  actual  results,  study  the 
style  of  the  men  who  must  make  each  argument  produce 
money,  and  who  succeed  in  doing  it  every  time  they 
try — study  the  oratory  of  the  American  Drummer.  His 
style  is  the  best  of  all  styles  for  effective  speech.  Think 
of  a  man  who  can  sell  enough  stone  to  pay  large  divi- 
dends on  $2,500,000  of  capital  every  year.  For  more  than 
thirty  years  he  has  been  able  to  sell  every  year  more 
stone  than  any  other  man  in  the  country.  When  there 
are  added  to  such  a  talent  for  speech  a  long  experience  in 
making  important  and  responsible  addresses  before  pow- 
erful boards  of  directors;  a  complete  training  in  the 
method  of  discussion  which  calls  for  convincing  statement 
without  the  appearance  of  argument,  and  requires  the 
realizing  character  of  inviting  and  persuasive  language 
without  waste;  and  a  character  for  probity  beyond  ques- 


316  MARTIN  B.  MADDEN 

tion,  as  well  as  a  sound  developed  morality,  there  result 
all  the  elements  needed  to  make  the  truly  great  orator. 

At  the  worst,  there  are  latent  in  every  man  the  feel- 
ings of  justice  and  of  right.  These  have  probably  never 
been  entirely  vitiated  or  crushed  out  in  any  human 
being.  They  remain  in  some  form  even  after  all  other 
correct  feelings  have  been  eliminated.  They  may  be  so 
weak,  so  ver3r  dormant,  as  to  be  nearly  impossible  to 
reach.  But  they  can  be  reached.  The  true  orator  can 
get  at  them,  revive  them,  stir  them  up  again  to  life  and 
make  factors  of  them. 

Surely,  something  like  this  was  done  by  Madden  in  at 
least  one  case  in  the  Board  of  Aldermen  during  his  career 
in  that  body.  And  there  can  hardly  be  a  doubt  that  he 
again  performed  the  real  orator's  work  when  he  went  to 
Springfield  in  the  latter  part  of  March,  1895,  and  obtained 
the  votes  needed  to  secure  the  passage  of  the  Civil  Ser- 
vice Reform  Bill.  The  right  thing  said  by  the  wrong 
man  any  time  seldom  carries  much  weight.  The  right 
thing  said  by  the  right  man  always  does.  The  right 
thing  said  by  the  right  man  at  the  right  time  never  fails 
to  decide.  The  right  man  is  rare.  The  right  man  able 
to  say  the  right  thing  is  rarer;  the  right  man  possessing 
the  ability  to  say  the  right  thing  at  the  right  time  is  the 
rarest  man  among  human  kind.     He  is  the  real  orator. 

And  such  is  Martin  Barnaby  Madden,  Public  Servant. 

FINIS. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

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